Watermelon
by pas l'auteur
Summary: "Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Narukami Yu. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Yu sighed heavily. That was a crappy line. He must be a little creative. Let's try again. "I, Narukami Yu, gladly welcomed you into the Velvet Room..." Oh forget it... his guest was too puzzled to care. -III-
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This story contains many OCs. Rated T because harsh language and... well, poor English. But of course, I've tried my best to fix the grammar or spelling errors before posting. If you still notice mistakes in my writing then forgive me. I'm just a human. Another thing… enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona.

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**I New Place, New Problem I**

Shikage was a busy industrial city under Kanto prefecture. Since it's an industrial city, the air was polluted with 'less' harmless gas from the factories. It was an obligation from the City Mayor himself to wear a gas mask every time the residents walked near the factory buildings. The polluted air had been an ongoing issue in the city for quite a long time. However, no matter how hard the citizens protested, the Mayor couldn't find any solution. It was a risk they had to take for their nation's sake. Besides, he couldn't just move the factory into another city. It'll take a lot of funds and voices of agreement from that 'another city' itself. Because of the Mayor's idleness, there has been a rumor that a mob will riot one day to degrade him and elects a new 'more responsible' mayor.

Yeah right, as if that will make things better. In all his life, wander from city to city, Narukami Yu was never the one to bother with a city's internal problem. Inaba's 'Midnight Channel' was an exception, since it's more like a worldly matter. Still, he was moved here this time, to Shikage. Funny how he thought he would end up in Tokyo University as he finished High School. He wasn't smart enough to pass the entrance exam and he didn't want to cost his entire parent's money just for his college. Not saying he's from a poor family, he just wanted to be an independent person. Also, the job offer in Shikage City was very tempting for him.

One of three biggest factories in Shikage; Goldfins, was desperately looking for employees. Goldfins was a blooming, nationwide, shoe outlet which had Shikage itself as its headquarters. Although desperate, the company still gave a challenging test for the applicants. Thankfully, Yu managed to pass the test with ease and earn a considerable place in the factory, a supervisor… Funny right? A fresh graduated high school student as a supervisor? Nice joke. He was on his way to the company headquarter to straighten things out.

A skyscraper building served in Yu's gray eyes as he exited from the cab. Upon closer inspection, the place was nothing special like it was described in its website he read when he took the online test. It was ordinary, about fifty stories building with Goldfins twin goldfish logo placed at the entrance. The fountain in front of the entrance seemed extraordinary though, it had goldfishes live inside the pond… cute.

As Yu almost reached the lobby, a noise of a broken glass from the sky made him paused. Curious of what that was he gazed up at its source. He found nothing but shattered glasses falling down. A little dangerous it was, but with his experience fighting otherworldly beings back at Inaba, his reflex had increased multiple times. So he had managed to dodge the falling glasses with ease, much to the crowd amazement. Feeling distracted, he decided to forget about it and continued. Just a moment after he took a few steps, he heard something fall behind him… and red liquids splashed on his back. After all had happened to him in Inaba, Yu was immune to surprise element. However he didn't feel quite comfortable with this situation. His eyes were suddenly become tired. A woman screamed and some crows flied above him were all he noticed before he passed out.

"Welcome back… to the velvet room."

Yu's vision cleared and he found himself sat on a comfy dark blue sofa. He glanced at his surroundings and concluded he's back in the limousine and its velvet blue interiors. The same bizarre looking man with an inhuman long nose and pointy ears was also there, sitting on the other side. His round and almost like popping out eyes stare idly at him. No matter how often Yu had seen that eyes, it still looked eerie. A sight of a beautiful blond woman was missing though.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid I need your help this time." said the man with an inhuman long nose, namely Igor. Yu could never forget him… even if he wanted to.

"You're very straight forward. You were usually… you know, using complicated words and all."

"I am glad the first subject you said wasn't a question."

"Odd things keep me sane." mostly by ignoring all of it.

"Indeed. You seem very healthy. Nonetheless, I am not summoning you here for an idle chat."

Yu smirked in a sarcasm manner, "Wow… Great!" and then his face turned stern while crossing his arms, added with a cold glare from his gray eyes, "I'm aware of that. Do speak." He continued.

"This year… we, the resident of the velvet room, have a massive and important matter to attend to. However, I sense a great ordeal is happening in this very year. Therefore, we feel irresponsible if we are just ignored it while still commencing our own schedule. That is where you come in."

"Welcome back, Igor." Yu's beginning to enjoy his own sarcasm as Igor chuckled in his own bizarre manner. "I suppose this 'ordeal' has something to do with someone who jumped from the Goldfins HQ."

"Hm…That apparently so."

"And personas."

"For you, that is unlikely."

"Why is that?"

Igor chuckled, "Welcome back, Narukami Yu."

Yu couldn't help but to laugh in amusement. He always enjoyed his conversation with this long-nosed man. It's been a year since the last time he visited velvet room. He's kinda missed it.

"Can we talk seriously now?" asked Igor while playing with his tarot deck.

Yu nodded while shifting his sitting pose from serious to casual. It helped him absorb any important bits in a conversation.

"As I said, we have big plan we must commence and in the same time we also have an urgent matter happening in your world. You were the bearer of the wild card and the last guest who visited Velvet room." So there were others before him? Glad to know he's not that special. "My point is; I ask you to replace me as the host of the velvet room."

"…I thought we agreed to talk seriously." Seeing Igor without his usual grin, Yu raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"As the new host, I will also give you my ability to fuse personas and this empty compendium book." He tossed the thick black book to Yu as he mentioned it. Yu caught it with great reflex and observed the book. It was empty, unlike his book he owned a year ago. "You need to find your own assistant… if you need one of course."

"I wonder…" He didn't know any who had blonde hair, golden eyes, and a British name… like Margaret.

"One last thing. Here is the key to the velvet room." Yu took the floating key in front of him. "Give it to our guest." Igor coughed… intentionally. "Your guest, I meant."

"And… who might that be?"

Igor chuckled heartily. "It is for you to decide."

"'Decide' you say? Glad to know I was chosen by the Mysterious-Long-nosed-Man." Yu turned into his sarcasm self again.

"Hmm, I wonder about that. If I recall correctly, you were chosen by the goddess herself." Igor too, it seemed. "Nevertheless, I ask you because I know you are capable. That is all. I'll see you in the next year."

Yu grinned sarcastically before saying, "Thanks for the burden. What's this 'matter' of yours anyway?"

"'Til we meet again."

"As mysterious as ever…"

Shibuya Rika impatiently tapped her feet onto the ground. Supposedly, a son of her father's friend, namely Narukami Yu, already arrived at the rendezvous point, the bus station near the Residential area. It had been more than two hours and not a sight of a tall gray-haired man with a lean body ever shown up. This waiting has to end! She screamed mentally. A purple colored cell phone of hers began to vibrate from her jeans pocket. Feeling irritated enough in waiting for a guy who's three or four years older than her and supposedly more responsible in keeping promise than her, she answered the call without looking at the display.

"What is it?" She answered unpleasantly. A few words from the caller and she immediately hung up and ran toward the bus that just passed. Why a simple 'fetch a guy' task has to be this complicated? The call was from her father. He informed her that this Yu guy ended up in Shikage's Police Department HQ 'for questioning'. His first day in the city and he already got himself one V.I.P ticket into the police headquarter. Just what kind of 'awesome' guy he is?

Damn the traffic for blocking her way. What deed she did yesterday for receiving such bad luck? Fortunately though, the police headquarter was just two blocks away. For an athletic girl like her, that's no big deal to dash. And so she dashed off… after she pays the fare obviously. In the middle of her running, she tied back her long, waist-length, auburn hair and focused her icy blue eyes at the crowded sidewalk. She had no time for saying sorry if someone got slapped by her straight and hardy hair or she accidentally bumped her relatively tall for a girl and slightly toned body at them. However, despite her effort, she was slipped and accidentally scratched her right shoulder against the rough edged wall. Clumsy idiot… That'll leave a mark on her pale skin, but it didn't matter. She's not the one who cares about beauty and such.

As Rika arrived at the police HQ ground, a gray-haired guy with a stained black trench coat and dark colored jeans was seen talking with a messy looking officer. With one hands placed deep in his jeans pocket, the guy began to walk toward her. The messy looking officer followed him. She was sure he was the one.

"Ah, you're…" The guy said with plain expression.

"Shibuya Rika." She replied coldly. He had no idea what she had been through.

"Right. I'm -"

"Yeah, yeah, I know your name already. Now let's get going." She cut in and grabbed his trench coat. She was ready to drag him to the bus station, but the messy looking officer's words stopped her.

"A girlfriend, huh? I miss being young." He said while rubbing his gross looking stubble.

"I'm just his acquaintance… and my father is his guardian." Rika replied while trying to sound less angry.

"I see. Too bad eh, Narukami? She's quite pretty."

That's it. This officer's an ass. It's not that she didn't appreciate the praise. It's the way he said it… asshole. "Let's go." As if he was ignoring their banter, this Yu guy just shrugged at the officer and followed her.

Damn the traffic again. She wanted to escape this city someday and lived at a quite rural town. "Sorry." The sudden apology from him surprised her and abruptly ended her thought. They were just sat in silence at the very back of the bus; awkwardly stare at whatever they wanted to stare, except each other's eyes. She secretly smiled. She thought he had no dignity as an adult… or maybe she should say 'young adult'. He's barely twenty according to her father's info.

"I've had worse."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and please don't ask. Use your imagination."

"…Okay." The rest… was an awkward silence.

Rika finally returned to the minimalist second story building, a home where she spent her entire sixteen years with his father. The father was stood by the gate with his usual smile and slightly closed eyes. His medium length auburn hair was as messy as ever, Rika also noticed he still hadn't cut that gross stubble of his like she said earlier in the morning.

"Pleased to meet you, Shibuya-san." greeted Yu with a broad smile.

"Oh… likewise. You must be Yu… and you must be Rika."

"Not funny, father."

The father laughed heartily. "Let's talk inside."

It amazed her how he could switch personalities during their talk with her father. He was very easy going and full of smile when her father explained his role as guardian and then shifted into secretive and reserved when her father asked about his past. He could cunningly change the subject without her father's notice by using a poetic phrase like 'My life was like a wind. Free and blow in whatever direction the breeze will take Me.' and then shifted back into his donkey-smile-carefree self again. With her, he was very stoic and less talkative… like a zombie. She wasn't sure to call him a 'Multi-Persona Freak' or a 'Genius Poker-Player'.

Shibuya Rika was motherless, so she had to step up to take care of all the housewife work for her father. Waking up early to serve breakfast had become a habit. After tidied herself up in her room, she walked downstairs to prepare the breakfast for his father… and Yu, but it seemed her job was stolen. She saw two pieces of sandwiches and a pair of glass full of milk served tidily at the table. Her father was a blind man in cooking, so it must be him… Yu.

Speak of the devil; the guy himself came to the kitchen with an empty glass and his default stoic expression. "Morning." He greeted casually while putting the glass at the sink.

Rika couldn't resist to not asking, "You… made these?"

He nodded and simply made his way to the living room. She grabbed her share and tasted it herself before followed him. It's delicious. The one she made wasn't so tasty. At least it's not sour or taste like shit, that all mattered to her when it came to cook. Yu seemed to be a good cook. What a rare trait… it's a good one though.

"It's good." commented Rika.

He glanced at her from over his shoulder and nodded before turned his attention to the news on TV again. Rika glanced down at her wristwatch and joined Yu in the sofa. Since she woke up too early to go to school, she decided to bug him. See if he could keep his cool talking awkward subjects for acquaintance.

"How old are you?" She asked bluntly. That's a rude question to ask for an acquaintance. She bet he'll change the subject or ignore her.

"Nineteen." He answered with his eyes still glued at the 21'inch television.

Alright, that was unexpected. Maybe that kind of question wasn't really personal to him. She just had to try again. "Have any girlfriend?" She's sure as hell he's not gonna answer that, especially when a girl asking the question here.

"No." Try again.

"An ex? Or maybe 'ex-s'?"

"Nope." Seriously?

"First kiss?"

"Nu-uh." Can't be…

"You're… a gay?"

"Try again."

Try again? Was he knows she's just trying to anger him? No, no, she's just over thinking. If that really IS true, she must add 'Mind-Reader Virgin' to his nicknames list.

"Aren't you going to school? I heard the traffic's quite crowded in the morning."

Rika didn't answer; she only rewarded Yu a sarcasm smile as he still only gazed at her from over his shoulder. "Well done. You actually spoke a full sentence when talking to me."

"Oh," She saw Yu turned back his attention to the TV and heard him chuckled afterward. "I didn't realize you desperately want my attention." He said with an annoying tone.

Rika's sarcasm look shifted to annoyed look in split second, "No, I don't… Good morning." She tried her best to sound less annoyed before she stormed off from the living room. She didn't want to admit she lost in her own game.

"You forget your-"

"Don't need it."

From outside the house, Rika could hear his annoying laugh. Jerk. After shutting her for a few seconds to collect her calm, she joined the busy crowd who was heading to the bus station. The laugh was intended, no doubt.

Anyway, enough about him, she's a little worried about her father. Went earlier than her only meant something important happening in his office or… field. And that was never a good sign for her. She'll worried sick like a hen worried about its chick wandering around the forest alone. Her father was a little reckless and somewhat easy to fool, not to mention he's an absent minded kind of father. It was a wonder he's a member of Shikage's police force as field investigator.

Her father went earlier than her… she bet it had something to do with that bizarre news Yu watched. Someone had committed a suicide at Goldfins HQ building. She didn't really pay attention to it as he was too busy bugging Yu, but she heard that crystal clear in her ears. It gave her a chill, especially the troubled building was near Suzuka High. The only high school in Shikage, meaning it was a boring place where she must attend 8 hours per day until Saturday. In other words, it's her high school. Somehow, she got a feeling something big will happen this year… and she's ridiculously involved.

Oh forget it. What did she know? She couldn't even figure a certain guy's mind. "Let's just go to school… and forget about it." She said to herself. Her school life was a busy one… especially this year. Elected as a Captain of Kendo club was a pain in the ass. Be the last to leaves, taking care of the juniors, yells at them whenever they made a mistake… However, she's not a girl who likes to run away from responsibilities. Her teammates had chosen her and she would do the very best as the Captain.

"Good morning, Rika-chan!"

Rika looked up and saw her childhood friend sitting on the empty seat beside her. "Morning, Leila." She replied.

Leila gave her a honest and cheerful smile before told Rika a story about her day… as always. It was annoying at first but Rika eventually grew attached to her habit. Leila was born in Europe, UK to be specific. Despite being born there, having the unusual blond hair, and green eyes, she's terrible at English. Maybe because she always lived in Japan since she was a child.

"Rika-chan, you've heard about the incident at the HQ, haven't you?"

"If by 'HQ' you meant Goldfins Headquarter, then yes, I have. Seemed like someone was too eager to meet his creator."

"It's horrible! Why would someone do something like that?"

"Depression plus desperation might be the recipe."

"I think so too, but they always have the choice to live… not just end it."

"Maybe he saw death as an only escape." Rika returned a pair of puzzled green orbs with a shrug. "What?"

"You're brooding. Did your father forget his lunch-box again?"

"No… no, it's nothing like that. I'm fine…"

Leila pouted and placed her hands at Rika's shoulder. "Rika-chan, I know you for almost ten years. I can always see through your lies."

"Not always." Rika exclaimed jokingly with a small laugh.

"Rika…"

Seeing her childhood friend with her puppy looks, Rika sighed in defeat. "Alright… it's my father."

"I told you to just put the lunch box in his car!"

"Not that Leila… He went early."

Rika heard her friend sighed in a disappointed manner. "Mother hen."

"I'm worried!"

"You're exaggerating."

"Whatever. You get the answer… and I'm not brooding."

"Okay, okay." Leila didn't look amused, but she's still had that big smile on her face.

Rika envy that.

"Oh, oh, I forgot to tell you about this."

Rika watched her friend busily searching something inside her duffle bag. Took a long time before she picked out her cell and shown her something Rika really didn't want to see. The stoic face of Narukami Yu framed in the cell's display.

"Cute, right?"

"Uh… right." She hated to hurt Leila's feeling by saying no.

Leila giggled. "I captured his face during his interview with the reporters. I was glad the TV didn't blur his cute face!"

Rika wondered how the reporter could quickly raise an interview shortly after the incident. However it was she didn't really care. She had a problem of her own. No time for worrying about the incident. Her worry already drained by his father 'went early mode' anyway.

Meanwhile, Narukami Yu was walking down the crowded sidewalk. Yesterday, he forgot to question his position at Goldfins factory. He had called the company, making it easier than went to the troubled HQ again. However, he couldn't get it connected… Maybe the company was still troubled with the suicide incident. Too busy to answer he supposed.

"Hm?"

Yu's thought immediately vanished as he reached a certain intersection. He stopped his walk and gave a thoughtful gaze at a certain item behind the glassed at the shop.

"100.000 yen…" He muttered softly before continue his walk. "Tuxedo sure is expensive."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Before we begin, I want to thank the reviewers. Thank you for your time reviewing, it really meant a lot to me. I hope I've shown improvement from this chapter onwards. Enjoy the second chapter! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own persona.

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**II He Found Me, I Found You II**

Narukami Yu was sitting in his usual supervisor desk, wondering why the elder workers didn't get at least annoyed with a nineteen year old brat watching over their works and sometimes scold them for being out of order. He also wondered why the company and its entire people shrugged off the incident that happened in their Headquarter. To be blunt, he felt like he was working with heartless robots… or maybe he's just over thinking it…

The gray-haired man shook his head. If he was them, he's indeed over thinking it. But it's a different case from his perspective. He got… premonition, from the long-nose. It's just a guy jumping out from the twentieth level of Goldfins HQ… He can't think like that. Something big will happen… soon. He pulled the drawer at his side and picked up his note. A pair of gray eyes carefully read it. The note was his 'little investigation' at the idiot… he meant the person who committed a suicide.

Tanabe Wanji, a male who was born fifty seven years ago, had a wife and two children, and according to his wife he didn't show any kind of depression before he pulled his idiotic stunt… he had to disguised himself as a doctor to get that information.

Yu flipped the note to the next page. It was a detailed form of him he 'borrowed' from the company's database. He found some interesting facts here. There was noted that Tanabe Wanji was a vice president of the company. What interested Yu was the 'was' part. Meaning, he held the title of V.P. before his death. The question is; why he jumped out from his former company building? Revenge? So that the company would have a bad image? That make sense, since he was fired one sided… according to his wife. However, that kind of motive is too common. He expected something supernatural was involved.

"Hey! Need a hand over here!"

"Alright, alright."

That small but loud conversation abruptly ended his thought. The gray-haired man rested his chin on his palm and decided to change the subject. Speaking of Supernatural, he still hadn't' decided The Next Wild Card. It was harder than he thought. Shikage has more than 300,000 people breathing in this land. Even if he had a certain specification to narrow the search, it's still hard to decide. He thought of choosing his friends back in Inaba since they're experienced with Personas… and friendlier with something supernatural. But he just can't bother them with this responsibility. They had fiercely fought for 'Normality' before and thankfully got the reward… after putting everything their lives on the line. It'll be cruel if he asked them to do it again… He had hoped Igor thought the same before he dropped this burden on him.

Yu lazily slid his gray pupils to the right side. The desk phone was ringing. "Narukami speaking…" After listening to the caller for a few seconds, he deadpanned. "Yes… I'll be there, sir." He put back the receiver and stood up. After put his note back into the drawer and grabbed his various stained trench coat he exited from his room. He snatched a gas mask from the wall and quickly made his way through the factory. The workers didn't seem to care their supervisor suddenly stroll out from his desk. They just glanced at him for a moment and then returned to their work. He silently thanked them for that. Didn't have time for answering question at the moment.

As he reached the parking lot, he hopped on his rented motorcycle and replaced his mask with a full-face helmet. Riding a motorcycle is more efficient than riding a car, especially in crowded traffic Shikage had. The distance between Factory area and Commercial area was rather far, unlike the distance between it Residential area. No wonder the resident protested about the polluted air.

The gray-haired man only took a mere fifteen minutes to his destination, Goldfins HQ. Yu let out a satisfied smile as he parked his vehicle. It was worth rented one after all. The other time he took the same trip, it cost him more than an hour.

Yu put on his deadpan face as he reached the front desk. "May I help you, sir?" She asked. He only showed his nametag on his chest to her. She seemed to get the message after observed it. "Please proceed to the top level. The president is waiting for you." She said, pointing her hand to the lift on the corner. "Um… let me guide you there." he only nodded and followed her. Yes, he had a 'Meeting '… with The President of Goldfins Company. He had no idea why and really don't want to meet an important person at the moment. But who are he to refuse? He's just a nineteen year old supervisor…

As they moved out from the lift, the front desk woman said she could only guide him here and told him the direction of the president's room. Yu managed to say a simple thank you before she shut the lift door… his mind was absorbed in awe of this room's velvet blue interiors. Actually he didn't need any further direction to find where the president's room is. It's just right at the end of the hallway. Ominously, the door at the corner began to glow.

The gray-haired man casually walked through the hallway while his eyes observing the blue wallpaper and carpets. The blueness really reminded him of Velvet Room… Speaking of which, what's his Velvet Room looked like? And... how to get there? Igor didn't explain that part. A hoarse and wobbling sound creaked from the wall. He abruptly stopped as the sound got louder and louder. Black liquids began to emerge from each side of the wall and popped out to the carpet. Various masks with Roman numbers began to appear from inside the liquids as each of them transform into humanoid forms.

Shadow? In the real world? He should get surprised by that, but no… he just stood there and watched them transformed into their true forms; a black skinned humanoid figure with various predatory animal's head on each chest, their faces were covered by masks of Roman numbers. They didn't attack, so did he. The shadows seemed to understand he was there to observe them. However… he knew this moment won't last long. A sudden move from him and he's sure they'll attack. As he glanced back to plan an escape, another Shadows emerged. It's a dead end. He remembered how Igor stated he's 'unlikely' able to summon a persona. Deep down, he didn't believe that, but it seemed Igor was right. He couldn't hear his Personas' voice anymore. He's vulnerable…

"Odd…" An obviously modified monotone voice was heard. Yu slightly titled his head to have a good look at a speaker above the glowing door. Thanks to the Shadows' mega body, his vision was limited. "You don't seem at least surprised by the appearance of my… bodyguards." The voice from the speakers continued.

"Can you tell them to move away… Mr. President? They're blocking the way." Yu glanced around to sight a certain dot… or a camera as the 'President' could easily tell his current state.

An amused laugh escaped from the speaker. It sounded somewhat eerie with that monotone voice. Yu silently noted the room had a transmitter somewhere near him. "'Mr. President' is too… um, honorific. You may call me, Izanagi."

That's an interesting choice of name. Yu wished Izanagi's still inside him to hear that. "So… what do you want to talk about?"

Then a silent filled up the room… although just for a few second. "…I am really amazed at your calmness, Narukami-san."

"Me too."

"Ahahaha… You really are interesting." A flicked paper was heard as he paused. "Narukami Yu… You do know what my bodyguards are, don't you?" Sounded like he was reading something…

"More or less."

"Then, you don't deny you were involved in Inaba's Serial Murder case."

"Yup."

"I heard the culprit turned himself in. Was that true?"

"Kind of. Say… you have been to Inaba?"

"Indeed. Two years ago."

"Nice place, huh?"

"Very."

"Someone special greeted you there I suppose. Like… a gas station attendant."

"Precisely. How do you know that?"

Yu clenched his fist, feeling uneasy as one of the shadows moved closer to him. "You won't invite me here if you don't know." He stated calmly.

A laugh again… harder this time. "You are most interesting. However, I summon you here only to find out if you really are a Persona User. I apologize if my bodyguards look too intimidating." One flicking sound and the shadows vanished. "You may proceed."

The gray-haired man continued walking down the hallway. From their conversation, he managed to conclude the President… or Izanagi's background. Like him, Izanagi was an unfortunate outsider who met the goddess Izanami… literally his wife… and knew about her identity. He had to wonder how did he found out… and still alive afterward. Well, he'll find out after walking through that glowing door… oh wait, it's already reverted to an oak door… Does that mean the world was shifting?

"I. Am. A. Fool…" He muttered as he undoubtedly opened the oak door. In his eyes was the typical office of a boss… without the boss. Instead a middle aged man in cheap suit had his neck hanged under the lights on the ceiling. Pupil narrowed indicating he had no soul inside him. He could at least suspect it's a trap. But he was too eager to question this Izanagi. Nevertheless… he better took anything he could get from here… such as the 'victim's' death state. Yu picked out his cell from his trench coat and began to shoot some snapshots of the dead model…

Yu watched the raven-haired officer sat across to him with a wry look. His tired eyes staring at him for a few seconds before he messed up his already messy hair. "You're stealing a Death God's role, Narukami." He shrugged at the officer statement. "Seriously boy… this is the second time you found a dead body first time. If this ever happen again, I've got no choice but to hold you here more than a few hour. You got that?"

Yu only nodded. It's no use explaining what really happened before and after he found the body. The officer would only state that he's crazy. Well… if not so, the officer is crazy to believe him. Didn't matter, the authority already have what they want and he also got what he wanted; freedom. Fair play.

The officer offered Yu an escort which he gladly accepted. That way some rookies would stay away from him and would most likely drop their urge to ask him questions… At least he thought so. Some officers still bombarded him with questions. He only shrugged them off and sometimes ignored them completely. They asked things they already knew. How annoying…

"Well boy, looks like you become ridiculously famous!" Yu raised an eyebrow as the officer said that. The officer pointed out at the crowd with some electronic devices around them. They're reporters. This couldn't get any worse. "What are you waiting for? Go and enjoy your five minutes joy on TV."

"I rather die."

The officer winced. "Oh c'mon… they aren't so bad. You also interviewed before right? It will be easy."

Yu sighed heavily. He really had no time for this. But he didn't saw a chance of escaping it. He would look suspicious and would have some police tailing him anytime. That would be a pain.

"You look tired." That was the first sentence he heard upon returning home.

"I am." Yu replied before let himself fell onto the leather couch, joining the auburn-haired girl. "Thank you for your concern." He rewarded her with a soft smile which she immediately cast it away with a laugh.

"Aren't you being a little out of character?" She pointed out while smirking in amusement.

The gray-haired man countered it with his own deviant smirk, "I happened to crash my head onto something hard."

"You should do it sooner." She suggested, a playful tone was heard from her voice. "And occasionally… in case you forget to say 'thank you'."

"I'll keep that in mind. Say, Shibuya Junior..."

"Shibuya-what?" She exclaimed almost immediately and shifted her attention to him.

"Junior? It'll be awkward if I call you by your first name and it'll be confusing if I call you Shibuya regarding my question."

The auburn-haired girl blinked a few times. "What kind of thing you've crashed?"

He chuckled heartily. "Problems and bad luck… if you ever believe in such." The girl seemed had no intention to speak, so he continued what she had stopped, "So… Shibuya-Jun-"

"Ju-Just… call me Rika, alright? That nickname's annoying…"

"Okay… Rika then. Your father, Shibuya-san, is a police officer, right?"

Rika grimaced, returning her gaze at the television. "I don't see where the confusion if you call me by my last name."

"That's because I've modified my question… Rika." Yu smirked as he saw her annoyed expression. Teasing her had somewhat become a hobby.

"You just wanted my permission to call me by my first name. You… tricked me!" A pair of icy blue eyes glared at him as she accused.

He only returned it with a flat stare from his pair of grays. "No, I'm asking you a question."

"Do you have any idea how badly I want to bash that stupid face of yours?"

He shrugged casually, "More or less."

There was a glaring contest between the two for a minute. Eventually, the auburn-haired girl sighed in defeat and told him the answer. She said her father isn't really a police officer, he's a scene investigator. She admitted she didn't really understand what kind of job is that. Her father never explained anything regarding his works.

"But he is an official?"

She raised an eyebrow, "…What?"

"Let me fix my question; He has a badge, right?"

"Well… yeah. What of it?"

The gray-haired man's smirk grew wider. "Can you do me a favor?"

It was a warm Sunday afternoon. The sun's almost set, letting a beautiful shade of orange and yellow radiated in harmony in the sky. Narukami Yu was playfully spinning his pen with his fingers. A satisfied smile formed on his lips as he re-read his note. He just finished digging information about the second 'victim' of 'Suicide Syndrome' as he liked to dub it, from his family. They were emotional bunch. He had a hard time questioning them… it took almost six hours to finish. His butt ached from sitting six hour straight… Nevertheless, he got some other interesting facts. He mentally noted he had to thank Rika for manipulating her father's badge. His face's looking good on a badge.

Turned out he was The President himself. It made him wonder who 'Izanagi' really was. Like his vice, he didn't show any kind of distress or depression days before he died… according to his son. Then it must be involved someone else… like Izanagi for instance. Judging from how he could easily altered the world and summoning shadows… that's most likely his doing. But how exactly he did that? Midnight Channel was out of business, so the chance they were devoured by their own shadow is nil… However it was, Suicide Syndrome involved shadows… and personas. It's about time he chooses the next Wild Card. Who? He still had no idea though. He would choose himself if that's even possible…

"Narukami? What are you doing here?"

Yu straightened his gaze and saw a confused looking girl with the typical ponytailed auburn hair. Her blond companion stood beside her with her hands clasped in excitement. He's sure that soothing green eyes of hers were sparkling as it met his static gray eyes. "I was doing my part time activity."

"You mean playing detective on your imaginary case? Face it, Narukami. They're just tired of living."

"According to my source… that's unlikely."

"Whatever then… Just don't misuse that badge I gave you… and remember, Narukami; You Owe Me." The gray-haired man only nodded with his smirk on. "C'mon, Leila."

"Huh? Um… yeah, yeah. Sorry."

He watched them strolled on the sidewalk, chatting up. What a coincidence meeting… He slightly frowned as he saw a certain sign above him. No… it's not a coincidence. He's standing at the bus station… a common place.

Regret is something he's still not accustomed to. That kind of feeling is a sign that he had made a wrong decision. Why he didn't rent a motorcycle like he did yesterday? That question spinning around his mind while he was patiently sitting inside the bus. The traffic in this city really is the worst of the worst. Well… he'll just have to do the usual; sleeping. He's a little tired 'Playing Detective' anyway.

Odd… he's supposed to be sleeping in a bus, so why he's standing alone in the empty intersection… alone? Also… it's still around 5pm, but the moon had showed itself above the black sky… the moon was sickly green colored and… is it glowing? He sighed afterward. Well… at least he realized he's dreaming.

The gray-haired man slightly jerked back as a shadowy figure emerged from the thin air. Another figure followed to appear shortly after. He couldn't clearly see, but he's sure he saw grayish shade on the top of the figure and a reddish shade on the shorter figure. A chuckled escaped his lips. That couldn't be him, right?

A pair of gray eyes alerted itself as some slimy creatures emerged from the ground. It eventually shaped itself to a black skinned humanoid with some kind of reptile head placed on its chest. Its face was covered in blue pattern-less mask with only Roman number 7(VII) curved beautifully on it… glowing like a sun. Yu really wanted to move nearer to the pair to observe the shadow more closely, but he couldn't move somehow. That's a little sad… he thought he's the God in his own dream.

Back to the pair, the red-hair stepped forward near the shadow. He… or maybe she as it seemed like the figure's wearing a skirt, had a blue glowing card spinning beside her. A sound of shattered glass was echoing as she slashed it with a blade she wield… and a gigantic creature emerged from her body, flying above her like a guardian angel. He really curious of the creature… or maybe he should call it persona, but it's too hazy to figure what it looked like.

Some sharp edged ices began to appear above the shadows head and viciously impaled it. It let out a hoarse roar before evaporated completely. Yu chuckled again. "That's kind of one sided battle…" He voiced his thought.

**"Good job, Rika."**

The gray-haired man raised an eyebrow before widening his smile in amusement. It seemed he had found the next Wild Card. Now the only problem is the Velvet Room location… oh and a tuxedo. He better search the cheaper one on the internet…


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I apologize for the delay. I just moved into a new city and had a hard time unpacking my stuff. I also got caught… forget about it… Enjoy the third chapter and thank you for those who had reviewed, favorite-d, and following this story! You have my gratitude.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona

III The Seer Tells, The Destiny Unfold III

A cool breeze of spring wind playfully blowing a certain gray-colored hair back and forth. The owner of the hair pressed his left hand against it so the bangs didn't continuously slap his eyes and his right held the book's page he was reading so it didn't flip on its own. He needed to read this particularly large book and understand it completely before he could declare himself a Fortune Teller.

"Temperance Arcane means…" He dropped his eyelids halfway and snapped close the book… in frustration. The window really needed to be closed. He thought coldly as a random plastic bag somehow made its way through the window and hit him on the face. Seemed like the plastic's destiny was to interrupt his study… and he knew exactly what will happen to it in the future; Be burned by a certain handsome gray-haired man with a charming smirk…

He let out a long sigh after shutting close the window. This kind of distraction really faded out his focus. He needed to learn it, Fortune Telling, quick. Got an uneasy felling this Izanagi would re-appear soon… and he would witness the shifting world for the second time. However, it's just one small problem after another. The will-be Wild Card seemed too busy with her school activity to attend her first Velvet Room meeting. It would be nice if he could just summon her while she was sleeping… like a certain long-nosed man did to him.

Speaking of Velvet Room… he still hadn't figure how to get there… or even what it looked like. But due to the deadline, simply said this afternoon, he decided to use his own room as Velvet Room. Yeah… he knew that would ruin the Velvet Room's image of being infamously mysterious and held a bigger purpose on the Wild Card's journey, but… what can he do? That long-nose was too excited in his own 'massive' matter to tell anything other than jinxed him he can't use persona and some unimportant things. And he was a fool to not ask or at least got a little curious about it.

He let out a long sigh once again. Never mind that. He just sounded like an old man whining about his new job. Calm and collected. He must have those two if he wanted to see this through. After sitting back to his chair, he decided to re-read the book… thoroughly.

The promised afternoon came and Narukami Yu was sitting patiently on the side of his bed, hands clasped under his nose and body half-leaned forward to… mimicking Igor's pose. He was well-suited with his cheap Tuxedo on and a pair of clean white driving gloves. In front of him, an end table covered with white sheet served tidily along with his desk chair. A deck of major tarot cards and big black tome were arranged neatly above the table. He let out his heavy toned chuckle. All that remained was an appearance of a certain auburn-haired girl.

A grin formed on his lips as the will-be Wild Card opened the door. Eyes wide open in disbelief and jaw slightly dropped. He knew it would be like this… deep down he felt incredibly embarrassed at himself… But the show had to go on.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Narukami Yu. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Yu sighed heavily. That was a stereotype crappy line. He must be a little creative. Let's try again. "I, Narukami Yu, gladly welcomed you into the Velvet Room..." Oh forget it... his guest was too puzzled to care.

Yu stood up and gestured his frozen guest to sit down in a knight-like manner. The guest was just blankly staring at him with her icy blue eyes… made him sighed in embarrassment. He's sure a shade of red was coloring his cheek by now.

"I… Please just sit down… Then, I'll explain."

"…Have you finally gone mad?"

"I… think so."

Without further words both began to sit down in silence. A glare from a pair of icy blue eyes demanded an explanation at the stoic grays.

"Do you believe in fortune telling?" Yu began, casting away the embarrassment and replaced it with confidence… like he always did.

"No… Should I bring you an aspirin?"

"My head hasn't crash onto something… yet, no thanks. Anyway…"

"I'm outta here-"

A strong yet gentle grip halted her. She was greeted by a pair of pleading yet firm gentle gray eyes as she returned her gaze to him. "Ten minutes." The gray-haired man said.

No response she made afterward. Both just stood there with their 'melodramatic' pose with their eyes locked to one another. "F-Fine!" The auburn haired girl harshly tried to remove her wrist from his grip, but to no avail. "W-Would you let go?!"

"Promise?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah, I-I promise! Now let go!"

With a charmingly curved smile he let go and returned to his seat and so did she, crossing her arms and impatiently tapping her finger. The gray-haired man ignored her and picked the tarot deck from the table. The cards got swiftly switched up and down by the delicate hands of Yu Narukami. He finished his shuffle by sliding the first three cards with his thumb onto the table. With a wide grin that almost matched Igor's he spoke huskily, "Are you ready to discover your future…?"

She was silent for a few seconds before replied, "Wow… you really into this…"

A heavy sigh fell from his mouth, "Please, just play along…" He could see an amused face of Shibuya Rika as he pleaded… Call him pathetic please? He deserved it… Hiding an embarrassment was somewhat harder this time…

"So… Mr. Fortune Teller. Let's see what kind of future you have in store." She said sarcastically, smirking.

He's too embarrassed to counter that… Damn it! This isn't like him. Nevertheless, he began to flip the first card on the very left. His brows slightly frowned as it flipped open.

"Well, what is it?"

"Death… an upright death."

"…Good. You just jinxed me. Thanks a lot."

"Well… It means leaving, uh… old stuff. And the word death is as true as it is. Um… something from you, or dear to you will die. But that doesn't mean an end to you. Instead it's a new beginning… You must be strong… accept your loss. Sorrow and mourning will greet you. And then be reborn anew for the better tomorrow."

"I hope it's you."

"…Me too." The gray-haired man flipped the next card. "Lovers."

"Ha… are you going to say that I will fall in love with someone?"

"More or less… but it's not always mean like that. This someone or something… is like one piece of jigsaw that was missing from you. You will find harmony when you embrace him…" Yu awkwardly coughed, "or it."

"I see a 'but' coming…"

A smile, an amused smile spread across his lips. "But… there's a consequence. You might get, um… 'addicted' to it, and would do anything to be with him…" He coughed again, much to her dismay it seemed. "or attain 'it'. However, you always have a choice. Either to NOT fall in love or… well, you know the rest. Continue?"

"Sounds good to me…"

The gray-haired man nodded and flipped the last card. It's the number zero, The Fool. "Well, this is quite interesting…" He looked up so his sharp gray eyes could meet her puzzled blue.

"…What?"

His smile shifted to a devilish smirk, showing a little part of his white teeth. "I won't explain." He claimed plainly while shifting his pose into a casual one.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know."

A pair of icy blue orbs rolled in harmony, "And you call yourself a fortune teller?"

"A 'substitute' fortune teller, I prefer."

And now, a long sigh, "Whatever. Can I go now?"

"Sure. But," one simple steel made key got taken by his fingers. "Take this." It then got thrown into the air and got easily captured by a slender hand of the auburn haired girl.

"A… key…?"

"To my room, yes."

"…What? Why would I need this?"

"You'll find out yourself… eventually. Just keep it close to you… Think of it as a lucky charm."

"…Whatever." She rose up from her seat and walked past the door, but stopped in the last minute to ask, "What's today menu?"

"Agidyne fried rice."

Her jaw dropped for a few seconds, "…What?"

"Just buy the ingredients for friend rice and add some spice."

She just shrugged and walked off…

Yu set loose his too-tight tie and let himself fell to the bed. His energy was like drained after he did this fortune telling. He wasn't sure about his reading, and deep down hoped that it was all wrong… especially when he saw the card number XIII. Someone, or something, close to her will die. He's not sure if she could bear the sorrow. Athletically, she's a strong girl, he knew… he almost lost to her in arm wrestling, despite her slender figure. In mental… he really doubted that. True, her attitude was firm, independent… and cold, however. He could see weaknesses through that shell.

Once upon a time, a girl asked her father what the word 'Evil' means. Her father was laughing first before wrapped his strong arm around a small frame of her four year old body. And then he said the definition of Evil is only a matter of perspective. Her round blue eyes were locking at his own blue orbs as she asked him another question.

_"What is 'persepctieev' father?"_

The twenty-seven year old father laughed again, heartily. He corrected her words by playfully spelling the alphabet one by one before softly demanded her to spell it herself.

_"P-E-R-S-P-E-C… E?"_

Another laugh escaped from the father's lips while gently messed her shoulder length auburn hair. The girl joyfully joined her father… Both were laughing together in harmony, accompanied by the warmth of the fireplace. However… it was faded as a male stranger abruptly entered the living room and told her father something. The girl didn't understand their conversation… but she could see sadness from her father's face.

The father then returned his attention to her and grinning broadly. The girl returned it with her cheery grin, which revealed her missing tooth. The father kneeled down to her and told her to wait at home with the Stranger. The girl shook her little head and tugging at the father's shirt.

_"No! You promised we wait for mommy together!"_

The father's grin shifted into a sad smile. _"Then…"_ He began… voice husky and hardened. _"…we will say our goodbye together…" _

Shibuya Rika's eyes snapped open as her back roughly nudged by a certain blond girl. "Don't spacing out, Rika-chan! We're on an important meeting!" She yelled.

"I know… sorry." The auburn-haired girl apologized after letting out a long sigh. She got to wonder why she was suddenly remembered that… uneasy moment… She thought she had finally got it rid of her memory for good.

"Rika-chan…" Rika straightened up her gaze and saw her friend, namely Leila, pouted furiously while crossing her slender arms. "Spacing out is so unlike you. Your father went early again?"

"No… Never mind, alright? Let's just continue this meeting… Why are we commencing this meeting anyway?"

"The president's order!"

"Yeah… I know. I meant; for what? You just dragged me here out of the blue."

"You are the captain of the Kendo club, I am the leader of Disciplinary Committee, and he's… well, a friend."

Rika wanted to ask what's the connection between those, but she's more interested in this 'friend' Leila mentioned. Oddly, his presence was nowhere to be found a moment ago. It's almost as if he was popped out of nowhere when Leila mentioned him.

"Yo!" A hand delicately fixed his falling raven-colored bangs upward so it looked spiky. "Kurosawa Gin, at your service." This 'Kurosawa Gin' offered her a hand to shake, which she hesitantly accepted.

"Shibuya Rika." She coldly replied.

"Rika-cha -"

"Shibuya."

"Okay… Shibuya-chan." The raven-haired exclaimed sadly, but a wide grin rose from his face a moment later. "Don't worry Shibuya-chan, no ghost will attack you as long as I'm by your side."

Ugh… She met a new weirdo. "Whatever. Leila, what is this about?"

"It's -"

"Let me do the honor, Leila-chan." The weirdo cut in and annoyingly posed as a wise-guy all of the sudden. "One of the students went missing since last week. His parent had contacted the police but the guy's still missing. Kiku wanted us to search around the school ground for him, since it was the place I saw him for the last time."

Kiku, huh? Tsumura Kiku, the student council president. The only girl in Suzuka high who was able to force delinquents to do what she said. Not because she's pretty… well she is actually… Rika always envy her smooth, waist length almond hair and her… sexily… curved face. But, it's because her icy attitude and wouldn't hesitate to report any problems she came onto. She also had some terrifying connections of informants. It's like she had eyes planted in every corner of the school. Gaining some of your 'secret' would be no problem for her.

Simply said, she's a cold-faced-demon who always gets her way…

"…Rika-chan? What's wrong?"

As the auburn-haired girl snapped back to reality, she saw a worried face of the weirdo close to hers… Too close actually, so it's his fault for receiving a straight jab from her.

"It's Shibuya for you… and don't do that again."

"…Okay girl. Got it." He mumbled to himself after he said that.

"Um… guys? The president's here."

Rika's attention turned to the blond girl and standing firmly beside her was the brunette president with her own stern essence from her… err, beautiful face. "You two, get along. We have a problem." as straight forward as always… heartless.

"And that is…?"

The brunette looked at the only guy in the group with a poker face. "I don't get the permission for our searching in school area because the faculty said it's an unofficial matter."

"I don't see there's problem. That's why I'm here." Just what kind of 'guy' he is…?

"Well, president. Could you introduce him?" Leila asked politely, gesturing the president to step forward.

"He's Kurosawa Gin. He will be our catalyst in our infiltration mission."

"Catalyst? Infiltration?" Rika exclaimed and slightly winced upon hearing the word 'infiltration'.

"I will explain in detail. Please listen carefully…"

So in the end, the plan was pretty simple. The… president… 'borrowed' some keys that either lead to classroom, laboratory, and any other rooms. Leila, as the disciplinary committee had an authority to forbid every student from entering the school ground… with the president's approval of course. The weirdo's job was… she didn't really know actually. The president only whispered as she told him his part. And her job was anticipating the unexpected… such as? Ask the damn president! She just stormed off as soon she finished her piece.

A well-curved kendo stick tapped impatiently on Rika's shoulder. It's been… what? An hour maybe… and the damn president were still inside the storage room. The president told her to wait outside… and she disliked waiting. "Screw it." She had finally lost her temper and mercilessly banged the door. "Hey, Tsumura! I'm not gonna wait…"

Her jaw dropped as the unlocked door creaked open. The president wasn't there and… as she recalled correctly, the storage room didn't have blue wall… it was dusty old bricked wall… also, where're all the equipments? The room was empty… 'D-Don't be paranoid!' she ensured herself. She hadn't come inside since she was elected as the Captain… it was upgraded… drastically.

"Rik -"

Alerted by the sudden call, she swung her stick toward the voice, trying to slash it… but she stopped in the last seconds as she recognized the horrified face of Leila. She let her dull weapon down while sighing in relief. "Leila, what happened? Was that weirdo bully you, or, or did sexual -"

"No!" The blond girl exclaimed quickly… much to Rika's dismay. Leila's exclaiming just proved her that weirdo was being an asshole. "Forget it. I'm glad I ran to you. There's something wrong with the… the school."

A pair of icy blue eyes got narrowed. The indoor gym's roof was half destroyed and the entire wall turned to blue. However, despite the luxury of the blueness wall, the ground was barren and she was like standing on a wasteland ground. What the hell is going on? Why the school turned into… this? How couldn't she notice the change? She really freaked out and desperately need answers. However, she must stay strong. Leila's beside her, she must protect her no matter what.

"L-Let's find the president…" The blond girl suggested. The auburn one agreed without words.

The pair walked down the corridor on the first floor which leads to the main lobby. Their surrounding was still the same as before; blue wall, barren ground… and black pitched ceiling. The blond one tugged the auburn's hand as a creaked sounds escaped from the wall. It faded quickly, but then started again all of the sudden… made the auburn winced every so often.

"What are you doing here late at night?"

Both girls shrieked in horror. Those sudden words that came from their back were enough to make the auburn's courage shell cracked. Thankfully for her, she managed to regain it as she turned back. A slender, yet somewhat muscular, and incredibly tall figure was stood meters away from the pair… hands placed deep in his pants pocket. Much to Rika's distress, the figure was well-suited and had that… evil… smirk planted on his calm half face… the other half was filled with shadows which hard to tell.

"You've passed the curfew." The figure reached out a hand, gesturing the pair to move forward. "Come. Let me take you home."

The blond was about to obey the figure's words, but her friend stopped her from doing so. The auburn stepped forward and preparing her kendo stance. Sweats began to fill her palms as she gripped the stick tightly. With all of her experience from winning from match to match and participating in a national competition, for the first time in her life, she was intimidated by her enemy. Her words even sound trembling when she asked… or demanded the figure's identity.

"I'm the new English teacher? Haven't you heard?"

"Who… are you?!" She repeated.

A deep-toned laugh escaped from the figure's mouth… it's hellish… "Of course you noticed… This place already altered. Well, let me introduce myself then. My name is Izanagi."

What does that mean? Imposing as a god?

"Yes, although not really quite. I'm just protecting this place…" The smirk grew wider as her eyes widened in horror… he could read her mind! "Well, well, I do can. So please speak openly. I mean no harm… however. I don't know about them."

The auburn tightened her grip as some disturbing sound of black slimy creatures began to emerge from the wall. Shibuya Rika never believed in ghost story… ghost doesn't exist; it's only imagination… it was all changed in a single night. Her childhood friend fell unconscious as the slimy creatures transformed into more humanoid. It… it had alligator's head placed proudly on his chest. Those 'IV' masks on their face add the eeriness of the creatures.

What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? Despite the chaos in her minds, she still calm on the outside… carefully observed the idle creatures.

_"You'll find out yourself… eventually." _

Yu…? Why his words outcast doubts and panic in her mind? It's soothing… no, no, no, it's not the time for that.

_Just keep it close to you… Think of it as a lucky charm."_

There was it again! Lucky charm? What did he mean… oh right! The key! What's a key connection with - oh screw that! Think ILLOGICALLY!

With still one hand gripped the dull stick, she reached for her skirt's pocket, and grabbed the steel key. Like unlocking a normal door, she twirled the key into the thing air and… it began to glow…

Meanwhile, at Goldfins Factory, Supervisor Room, Narukami Yu just exited the bath room and let himself fell to his comfy chair. He really needed to decrease the spices for dinner. It's not good for health. He moved his attention to his personal computer and began to type today's report. Just before his finger touched the keyboard, he felt a crushing sensation from inside his body. It's like…

"AAAARRRRGH!"


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: I felt bad leaving a big cliffhanger at the last chapter. Apologize, everyone. I hope this slightly faster update could make up for it. I'll never stop saying thanks for everyone who had supported this story in any ways. Thank you! Enjoy the fourth!

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona.

Author's note again: I forget to tell you. Yu has something to say at the end of the chapter.

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**IV Give and Take, Take and Give IV **

What does it called when someone magically disappears from where he stands and then suddenly appears from the thin air onto another place? Teleportation? Yes, that's correct… let's move into another question. What is happening with this someone in between? …Nothing? How utterly wrong… This someone got his bones violently crumpled into a tiny piece, got thrown into a thin air, got his bones stretched to restore it to its usual position before finally teleported into another place… at least that was what Narukami Yu experienced just now…

"My, my, that's quite intriguing key you have there, miss."

The gray-haired man swept his palm across his deadpanned face. That's a relief. He could feel his bones resembled to its original place properly… meaning he still have two hands, two foot, one head, etc. Despite the success, he still thinks Teleportation is BAD and will always be in his mind.

"Y-Yu?!"

He moved his gaze to his left side and found his guest standing in horror with her icy blue eyes widened. "Are we on a first name basis now?" He teased lightly. He didn't know why he joked. He should be at least horrified at the fact he was… teleported into the altered world. But after he heard her unconsciously called him by the first name, it just happened.

"Wh-what?!" She exclaimed almost immediately.

"You just called me Yu…?"

"T-That's… that's just an accident! - Forget it, why are you here!?"

Yu grimaced at the question."I want to know myself… and reward whoever teleported me here."

"…I think that's me." His guest showed off the steel key, "I just used this and then you popped out of nowhere!"

Narukami Yu could only shot her a flat stare before harshly snatched the key from her hands. "I'll…" A sudden move from something at front got detected by the alerted Yu. The gray-haired man pushed back his guest with a strong force and jumped backward almost altogether. Sharp blow of somewhat visible wind violently passed between them and disappear. He slid his pair of gray orbs to the left corner of his eyes. "Well met… Izanagi."

"Narukami Yu. I had a feeling we would run into each other soon enough." Izanagi took one step forward and revealed his ominous gold eyes, staring at Yu's static pair of grays. He casually fixed his fallen bleached blond bangs as he stated, "I believe you have a question."

"Not really." As Yu replied, he noticed his guest were rose up hastily and stood next to him with firm expression. "But… she does."

"Yeah, I do, but not for that freak, for you. We'll have a VERY long talk after this is over." His auburn-haired guest retorted, much to his amusement.

"We will." Yu fixed his stance so he could see clearly the shadow number IV beside Izanagi. It was the same shadow he saw in his dream; humanoid, black skinned, the mask, reptile head, and the number IV. "Go then, fight."

His guest turned her head in ninety degree to shot her furious look at Yu. "I thought you gonna help!"

A deviant smirk was born almost instantly, "I thought you don't need one."

"Fine! Coward-cook…" His guest took some steps forward and prepared her battle stance. The gray-haired man crossed his arm and diminishing his smirk. The girl's legs were trembling as she stepped. She's scared…

The gray-haired man dropped his eyelids as a hoarse roar of a beast filled the corridor. Speaking of the corridor… its wall is velvet blue - oh, it began to turn bloody red… just a tiny part though. He focused back watching his guest first fight… It was one sided. It looked as if her enemy could read her every attack and counter it with simple yet powerful blow. Come on! Stop showing off and use Persona already, he yelled mentally.

But the girl stubbornly swung her stick up and down, left to right, and right to left which only leaded into the shadow's violent counters. The gray-haired man jumped one step backward as his female guest was sent flying toward him by the shadow's wind force. "Use your brain a little." He plainly suggested, but got chewed off immediately. He saw her coughed out blood as she spoke… geez. "Time out!"

His shout made the Wild Card released her stick, grabbed his collar with both hands, and pulled it close to her furious face. "What's with you?!" She began, eyes glaring… and a little trembling. "Do you have any idea of my situation here?!" She coughed out blood once more to his white shirt, which now had red stains on it… "Don't you dare joke as if this is a game, Narukami! It's a goddamn battle to death! And I won't die now! If you aren't gonna help then go away! You're being a nuisance!"

With his usual smirk, Yu casually replied, "Right… I'm sorry then…" He really was… he thought she already had awakened her initial persona. The gray-haired man watched her slowly releasing his collar, but her eyes still locked at him. "What do you want for dinner?"

"…Idiot." She shot him a punch to the shoulder before turned back, facing the agitated shadow. She picked her wooden stick from the ground and prepared her stance.

From behind her, Yu could see her legs slightly shook, her back trembled, and her usual stance was a crap… unlike that time when she sparred with him. Her move and stance were flawless. She needed help… she really was… and it's not from him. He must bear watching her got beaten down once again by the shadow.

Call it…

"Gah!" Yu was slightly jerked back in suspense as… for the first time… she managed to dodge the shadow's right jab with an evasive roll.

Call for help…

Yu clenched hard his fists as she countered with an upright slash, making the shadows lost its balance.

You… are not alone…

There's… something… inside you…

Call it out!

Yu's eyes widened as… blue lights began to emit from over her shoulder… one glossy card were spinning in its core… A slender hand coolly grasped it, shredding it to pieces… and broken glasses noise was echoed. For the first time since he left Inaba… Yu felt incredibly exited over something… especially at one particular word he barely heard from his guest mouth…

"Per… so… na!"

A pair of grays watched in awe the born of a stunningly beautiful, swordswoman with dark crimson fur wrapped her entire curvaceous body. Her knee length silver hair was elegantly circling around her body. One seductive ruby orb was covered by her long bangs, two sheathed Katanas were placed gracefully on her three black stashes that were tightly gripped her slim hips, and four mischievous fangs were seen as she grinned broadly…

His auburn-haired guest spoke one word; "Fenrir!" afterward and a sharp pointed block of ice impaled the shadow. It then let out a painful roar and bent down to its knees… Maybe not satisfied yet, she continued to command her persona, which she just named Fenrir, to bombard the shadow with torrents of ice.

A relieved smile rose back to Yu's face. "Well done…" His praise stopped abruptly as he watched her collapsed unconscious as the shadow got itself evaporated into the air. "Rika…"

"Well done indeed!"

Yu straightened his gaze to meet those ominous golden eyes of Izanagi's again. "Send us back… please?"

Izanagi started to laugh in amusement, "Of course! Of course! But remember… Narukami Yu; we will meet again…"With a flick of fingers, the world shifted back to normal.

Narukami Yu found himself sitting on a very uncomfortable chair of infirmary. Behind him, two girls were sleeping peacefully on the beds. He had a little theory of the altered world after he briefly recollected the recent event. That altered world was… velvet room… or maybe he should say 'Velvet World' since its blueness is not only in one particular room… and the key that long-nose gave him 'transported' him there... He knew those were weak points, but he's sure as hell it is a Velvet… world. Long-nose once noted that he and his assistant is 'its' resident. Which resident? Velvet Resident… of course…

…Forget it. He's being ridiculous… Let the girl figures it out, he's not in the game anymore. He's just… a supervisor… That's kind of familiar job…

Anyway, he must do something with these two girls. He couldn't call the police because he's already become a celebrity around the police force. If he called their parents… or the blonde's parent to be specific… it would only bring him 'hard' questions… and they would definitely called him crazy after he answered. In the end… he would be accused for kidnapping and be brought to the police station… sucks.

So… what should he do? Leave them of course. With his default stoic face, the gray-haired man rose up from his seat and walked away from the infirmary. He shut close the door and putting a notice; 'Nobody enters until 9am' on it. This way, they would be safe until 9am… at least he thought so. This place's structure was quite organized… like some kind of institution… It's not a hospital, at least he knew that. The point was… where the hell is he? …oh right, that was actually a rhetoric question… Judging by Rika and her friend's uniform… and that board above a certain door with '2-E Class' written on it, he's at Suzu…alright he forgot the name… what he was trying to is he's at Rika's High School building.

Well, that's interesting. The Velvet World… as he like to dub it… could occurred anywhere. Maybe he should 'anytime' too since the last time he got casted away to that world was when the sun still posing above the sky. It's night this time… almost midnight. And hell! He just had one big question regarding its timeline… If Rika… teleported him when she was in the Velvet World, why his office didn't get altered? He just checked his wristwatch and found the time was an hour after he exited the bathroom. The… teleportation was an instant… time wasn't malfunctioned. But the Velvet World was…

A rumbling noise was heard from his stomach. He stopped his walk, rubbing his stomach with a painful expression on his face. "Damn you Agidyne Fried Rice…" He muttered and sprinted off to find the toilet. Unlucky for him, the first toilet he found after he sprinted like mad for ten seconds was locked. Made sense since it's around one in the morning… he better found - screw it! Just bust it through with force.

After somehow managed to take one deep breath, Narukami Yu kicked through the handle bar, instantly made a hole at the plastic door. Even a cornered deer is much scarier than a crocodile, right? But his urge to do… something humanly… was suddenly vanished as his gaze straightened up. A boy got his head buried under ponds of water on the sink… seeing how pale his arm was… Yu could tell the boy's lifeless…

"Well, well, if it isn't our 'Death God'!"

Narukami Yu politely bowed at the raven-haired officer and put on his wide grin. "I'm honored." He said sarcastically. It rewarded him a hard punch to the face from the officer.

"Don't kid with me… kid! I warn you; you're finally accused for murder, so tell me the truth of what happened!" The officer demanded, slammed the iron table.

Yu's grin evolved into a wolfish smirk. "I had the thought that your colleague was deaf." With that, he got a sharp kick to the gut. He groaned loudly before it broke into a devilish laugh. "Come on, officer." He paused briefly with a cough, "I think you're smart enough to see through lies."

The officer grunted and sat across him, hands crossed. "Listen here, Narukami… I'm trying to help you for not going into the goddamn prison. This third vic you found has a big-ass possibility to turn you in, unlike the first two vics. I can't tell you why, but in my opinion, it would definitely stand in the court. And goodbye normal life."

"Uh-huh…" As if he wasn't already say goodbye to 'normality'… he had done it TWICE, FYI.

"Just tell me the truth, kid. What the hell happened? Don't you dare use 'nature calls' thing again!"

Yu let out a chuckle before drastically switched his expression into default. "If truth you want, I don't have it. I just happened to found them dead." He added a long sigh before he continued, "It did sound suspicious, especially when I happened to find them thrice in a row. But you know as well as I do, officer… I didn't kill them."

The officer glared at him for a few seconds. He didn't flinch. He knew the officer was observing him whether he lied or not. Just like his detective uncle did back in Inaba. The officer slowly stood up and wildly messed up his hair. "Damn… I hate this job." He muttered to himself before walk away from the damp and dimly cubed interrogation room.

Yu could hear that… "I hate mine too…"

After a few hours of waiting, the gray-haired man's boredom began to rise. He naturally yawned and fixed his seat into a more relaxing one… even though he sat on a flat, iron made chair. Another hour had passed… judging by how his blood stained shirt got smelly… and how boredom began to eat him alive. Irritated, Yu slammed his head against the iron table. He kept his now bruised temple against it while slowly shutting close his tired, gray eyes. Seconds later, he's in a dream world.

Narukami Yu stood calmly at the edge of the cliff. The gray-haired man glanced around at his surroundings, scenery of black, bottomless pit and dark violet sky served somewhat beautifully in front of him. And endless plains full of greenness served behind him. Yu was consciously realized he's in a dream… somehow…

He put his hand above his eyes as disturbing blue lights began to emit from the violet sky. A card of Fool Arcane was emerged, spinning around as it gracefully descended from the blue light. He hastily took it as it leveled his vision. Just as he was about to grasp it, it suddenly disappear. Losing his balance, Narukami Yu fell to the bottomless pit. A pair of stoic eyes was watching the blueness of the sky being swallowed by the black of emptiness.

A soft smile formed on his lips. He understands… what this dream about. It's kind of sad… He knew this isn't his fight, but deep down… he refused to believe that. He had no idea why he wanted to solve this Suicide Syndrome case. He had no idea why he wanted to know who Izanagi is so badly. He had no idea why he was excited all of the sudden… It just felt natural.

Then… what should he do? He had no Persona to fight. He's not even sure if he could hurt those shadows with just his human power… Think, Narukami Yu, think! Izanagi, he met Izanami the same way he did. Izanagi must've a persona, or maybe personas. Also, he's indeed more than just a Persona User. He could switch the world with a flick of fingers! Damn… did Long -nose knew about him? …Stop! Forget it, no question. Just think of how he still had Persona after god knows how long. If he couldn't summon persona because of time, so must Izanagi. It seemed time's not the problem. If summoning persona frequently is the case, then he's doomed…

Let's forget about it… and change the damn subject.

How about Izanagi's appearance? Well, he's sure as hell that Izanagi was like his old Persona without his helmet; golden, not to mention glowing, eyes, towering height, old-school fashion taste, and his polite mannerism. On top at that, Narukami Yu felt very familiar when he clearly saw Izanagi's face for the first time…

The soft smile of his grew into a wide grin.

He got an idea of Izanagi's background… Well, kind of. He's not too sure about it… Nevertheless… when will he reached the bottom? Idly falling away for several minutes is pretty boring…

"-ke up, kid! Hey, kid! Wake the hell up!" A pair of grey eyes slowly opened. It then slid from left to right to observe his surroundings. "Huh, thought you were dead there for a second. Come on, I'll take you to your new 'home'."

Yu lazily rose up from his seat before half-heartedly followed the officer. He felt incredibly tired somehow… maybe because he's thinking much in his dream… or maybe because he fell too long. Didn't matter, actually. He's more concerned in surviving his trial phase. He had no idea for how long, but he knew it would be a pain… and he had one stupid and dangerous idea of how escaping it. "Excuse me officer, what's your name?"

"Can't you read the name tag? It's Kurosawa Heike."

"Nice to meet you, Kurosawa-san."

"Well, yeah. It's nice to meet you too… and still alive afterward. Mr. Death God."

Yu grimaced. "Say, I have a request."

Officer Kurosawa stopped and turned back to face Yu's smug face. "You're one hell of a kid… don't you at least freak out at your current situation."

"That's a waste of energy." Yu answered plainly, which made the officer smiled in amusement. "So, you accept my request?"

"'course, kid. Name it!" Yu struggled to pick up a certain steel key from his pants pocket… his hands were handcuffed, FYI… and handed it to Officer Kurosawa.

"Do you know an officer named Shibuya?"

"There's a lot of Shibuyas in this force, kid. Be specific."

Unfortunately, Yu didn't remember the elder Shibuya's first name. "Uh… this Shibuya has a daughter named Rika."

"That's not helping much. Just tell me his first name."

Yu let out a long sigh, "That's the problem…"

"…What about him anyway?"

"Give that to his daughter. I'm her husband… and that's the key to our home…" That would look more convincing, wouldn't it?

Officer Kurosawa got his jaw dropped… "You… a husband? How old are you again?"

"Nineteen. Oh, but please don't say a word to her father. He would most likely kill me on the spot. Give the key straight to my wife and I'll greatly appreciate you, officer."

"Oh, I know what you mean." The officer grinned briefly. "Where's she?"

"If my guess is correct, he's at a hospital nearest to Suzu…" What was it name…?

"Suzuka high?"

Yu nodded. "Yes."

"Alright kid, leave it to me. Anyway… I was wondering if you have any kids?"

"Oh, we plan to."

"Really? Is that why she's in the hospital right now?" Yu was about to answer, but the officer's laugh was too hard to stop. "Congratulation, kid!" He began to yell, much to Yu displease. "Hey everyone! Listen up! This guy will have a baby!" Some of the officers who were casually sitting on their desk suddenly crowded him. Some praise began to fly as light as a feather at him. Strong arms began to fly at his shoulder. And his mind began to fly away… out of this world.

Narukami Yu had said this before… Regret is something he had and will never have accustomed to. That feeling is a sign that he made a wrong decision… or wrong choice of words… Why did he say he plan to have a kid?!

It was rainy… two figure stood tirelessly in front of a very meaningful tombstone. The shorter figure was crying out loud, almost matching the violent noise of rain drops. The taller figure calmly stood by, holding the umbrella for both of them. He then kneeled down to match his daughter height, offering a hug. The daughter understood the gesture and immediately hugged him… fresh tears watered his black shirt.

Shibuya Rika abruptly awake and a jolt of pain immediately flashed through her head afterward. She held her sweaty temple in pain… So damn hurt! It's like a brick wall just crashed onto her head.

"… Doctor! Call the doctor!"

"Hang on, Rika-chan…"

She could hear those two familiar voices, but she couldn't see them. Her vision was a blur… and it got worse and worse every time she tried to focus. She cringed in pain as another jolt of pain flashed. Damn it…! She couldn't take this anymore…

* * *

Narukami Yu's note: To author; please make teleportation less painful in this story. Thank you. To everyone in the Velvet World; If you guys ever run into an old man with an inhuman long nose, kick his ass HARD for me. To a certain Long-nosed old man; I will hunt you down... To everyone who thinks being a velvet room host is hard; It's a hell lot harder than hard, especially when you're just a simple human. To everyone who think I'm a bad fortune teller; I am, blame the goddamn plastic for disturbing my study and long-nose for making me a fortune teller in the first place. To everyone in general; Love you. Sincerely, Your cool Main Character, Narukami Yu. :*

The third Author's note: Uh... I think he's a little stressed out, forgive him...


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Finally, the fifth! I'm really sorry for the delay. Assignments just kept coming… And I have a hint for those who wondered about Yu's assistant; blue eyes, blonde, inhuman… The assistant will appear in the sixth. **Thanks for everyone who had supported this story in any ways. **Sorry if you don't like the assistant spoiler…

* * *

**V Red beneath Green V  
**

Shibuya Rika idly gazed out the window of her classroom. It's her first day at school since she was hospitalized in coma for three days. The history lecture she was unwillingly listening to now was a perfect comeback gift. The past and her would never get along… especially when her mind was occupied with some… alien… subjects called Persona, Shadows, and… Velvet… uh, world. She had a brief conversation with Shikage's rising-star celebrity, namely Narukami Yu… or 'Mr. Shinigami' as the media like to dub it. He said that monster she fought in the… Velvet World… is called Shadows. And the power she summoned for defeating it is called Persona, while Velvet World is… an altered version of our world. Well, those definitions weren't help much. She still as confused as a newborn baby… Maybe she needed more time to accept something… supernatural… or, she could ask Yu thoroughly once he finished his 'vacation'. Truthfully, her memory of those subjects was blurry.

Lunch time finally came. The auburn-haired girl stood up and strolled out from the classroom. "Rika-chan!" She ignored the call and kept walking; she knew who the caller is. Eventually, the caller caught up to her, panting lightly… just like she expected. "I need… to… talk to you." The caller, which is no other than Leila spoke while still struggling to catch her breath.

"Sure." Rika replied plainly. She saw her childhood friend took a deep breath while set her lime eyes to lock her icy blue.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Rika exclaimed.

"It's about you being hospitalized… I think that's my fault… I don't really remember what happened, but… when we were wondering at the school late at night, someone attacked us and I…"

The auburn-haired girl saw her friend struggled to speak her mind. She gave her friend a gentle pat to the shoulder and an assuring smile. "It's nobody's fault, alright? I was just exhausted."

"You were in coma! I… I saw you…"

"I'm fine, Leila. Don't blame yourself." Rika reassured her friend. Her blonde friend didn't look convinced by that… she just stared at the auburn-haired girl with a worried look. "Now let's go get some bread… I'm starving." Without waiting for an answer Rika dragged the blonde female to the cafeteria.

Both of them sat silently while eating their lunch. It seemed Leila still felt guilty for whatever had happened that night. Rika herself was lost in thought about Leila. She didn't remember Leila was in part of that fight. It's just her, Mr. Shinigami, a guy with creepy yellow eyes, and the monster. She wanted to ask Leila straight away about what happened, since she seemed like remember the part before the battle began, but couldn't find the heart to. Rika bet Leila was still shock as hell.

"Good day, Shibuya." Rika set her gaze up to see Tsumura Kiku, the President of the Student Council, sat across her.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

Tsumura didn't look so pleased by her cold attitude, but she still held on that annoying poker face. "I want to know of what happened to you that night. According to Leila, both of you were assaulted by a mysterious 'English Teacher', which was a fake. Was that true?"

Rika glanced at Leila, the blonde seemed don't want to say something as she just continue eating. "Actually… I don't quite remember."

"I see." Tsumura nodded. "I apologize then… for not being able to protect you while in my watch. If there's anything you need, let me know." With that, she walked away… typical.

Today's school went dull. Leila was still mute and the afternoon lecture sucks. The auburn-haired girl got a call from her father just before the school was over. He said she should visit Mr. Shinigami. What a drag… No matter how she disliked it, she still went anyway. I front the police headquarter; she saw her name was written on a plain white board, held by the raven-haired officer with gross stubble from the other day. But… there's something wrong with the name… 'Narukami Rika'?

"Narukami Rika?" asked the officer as she approached.

"No." Damn… that name didn't sound right. "I'm Shibuya Rika."

"Hm, have we met?" This asshole seriously doesn't remember?! "Oh, yeah, you're Narukami's girlfriend! Dang, I should've notice you were his wife that time. Love-hate relationship is pretty popular among the youngsters."

"Excuse me? I'm still a second year high school student, not that idiot's wife! And WE don't have any relationship aside from being acquaintance. Understand?"

"…Y-Yes ma'am!" And then the officer laughed… heartily. "Sorry girl. I actually knew you aren't his wife… heh, obviously. Narukami seemed to trust you so much that he would lie to me about your relationship. What's up with this key anyway?" He playfully spun a steel key that she was familiar with.

"That's a key to… his room." God… she hoped she knew what she was saying…

The officer's jaw dropped for a few seconds… bad sign, "Oh… um." He seemed to struggle to find the right words. "Well… not really my concern. I just want to honor his request. Here you are." He then handed her the key.

"Thanks… I guess." Why Narukami gave back the key? One obvious answer immediately popped in her mind in a second. Damn he's an idiot. Teleporting himself to… her side, would just lead into another problem… one damn serious problem… Heh, that's Yu for you. He doesn't understand the words 'Common' or 'Normal'.

"Uh, you're smiling… Are you sure you two are just acquaintance? You seemed to awfully understand this guy."

The officer's words struck through her thought, made her slightly jerked back."Wh - Just shut up and get back to work." With that, he left the officer… Tsumura's influence.

"…Damn, Narukami. She's tough."

Shibuya Rika 'somehow' sat patiently at the waiting room. She didn't leave for home, she planned to visit Narukami first to confirm about the key… and also her father's command to do so. After a few minutes passed, the officer called her name and escorted her to the visiting room. It's her second time visiting that cubed little room. That was two days ago. Narukami looked ridiculously happy that time…

As she stepped in, a man with dim gray hair sat across the bulletproof glass. He still had that dumb smirk on his face. Glad to know he wasn't at least depressed by his current situation though. "You look great." She stated as she took the seat in front of him… with a bulletproof glass in between.

Yu chuckled heartily. "You mean handsome? Thanks." He said with his smirk still planted on his face.

Rika couldn't help but smiled back. "You're a narcissist now?"

"Hardly, I was only adjusting your word into a proper one."

The auburn-haired girl crossed her arm in annoyance, as if saying 'whatever'. "The key." She said straight out, ignoring his deflection.

He raised an eyebrow. "The… key?" He repeated, leaning forward near the glass.

"Yes, The key. You sure about it?"

His puzzled look faded and in split seconds switched into his default stoic. "Just do it whenever you get transported into the VW."

"VW?"

"VW; Volkswagen."

"Very funny, 'Mr. Shinigami'." She retorted sarcastically.

'Mr. Shinigami' shrugged the sarcasm off and let himself leaned against the chair. "Velvet World sounds silly, so I just made up a new name."

"Do you even understand the word 'silly', Mr. Shinigami?" He shrugged once again, much to her annoyance. "Alright, forget it. I'm done here. Got something to say before I leave?"

"Yes, about VW." A pair of icy blue eye rolled, really pissed about the 'VW' thing. "Any kind of injury you got from there would have no affect against your physic… instead, your mind received all the pain, agony, and such… like illusion. You experienced it didn't you… the dream, of yourself being tortured… or some kind?"

"…How?" She clenched her fists tight. Yu was right… that dream did occur. The dream where she was –

"Stop, just from the look of your face I know you're thinking about it. I'm sorry for bringing up such bad memory." He paused, averting her thoughtful gaze. "As for 'how', I clearly remember your fight with the shadow. You won that fight, congratulation. The aftermath from my point of view; you should have some broken ribs, bruises on your left cheek, and one cracked bone of your left leg. However, you seemed like a sleeping beauty the moment we returned to the real world. Added with your three days coma state… and I know 'how'."

"I… see."

Yu nodded. "Now that you know, be careful. Restrain your hot-head behavior, study your enemy, and struck them on their weaknesses. Trust me; they have one no matter how strong they are." He added a sigh, "I got a feeling your journey for 'normality' is harder than mine."

"'Mine'? So, you're -"

"Never mind that," He quickly cut in. Now that's just suspicious… "I have one more thing; it might be hard to accept, but you need your friends. Start with the blondie. She seemed to have recalled what happened at VW. "

"Hell no, Narukami!" She snapped. "We won't get Leila or any of my friends involved, PERIOD."

The gray-haired man chuckled, "Got a feeling you would say that. Regardless, you shouldn't wander around in VW alone. Izanagi will most likely summon you that way. Use the key if that happens."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." She rose up from her seat as he did. He then gave her his usual smirk one last time before being escorted back to his cell. "If I ever get back there, I won't use this key… Yu. Not before you get out from this hellhole…" She murmured.

The gray-haired man halted and turned his gaze to her, much to her surprise. He couldn't be hearing that… could he? "…Did you just call me Yu?" God… no, he heard it! "Oh, you're blushing."

"I'm NOT! It's just… the temperature. A-and I didn't say anything!"

"…Really, huh? Cold temperature makes your cheek crimson?"

"J-Just… never mind. S-See ya."

Past midnight, Shibuya Rika stared blankly at the television. This was one of that time when she faithfully… and also worriedly… waiting for her father to come home. Yu usually accompanied her by the time he came back. He sometimes talked about his day at the factory, how the employees were making stupid mistakes so he must scolded them, how the traffic jam expanded his sleeping hour, and some other nonsense. He had changed somehow… and she's glad for that. The auburn-haired girl let out a bitter chuckle. It's not fair that she rarely returned the gestures with at least a smile. Maybe it's time to change her attitude…

"I'm home…"

Upon hearing the husky voice of her father, she jumped off from the sofa and went to the front door. She greeted the old man with a wide smile, "Welcome back father!"

The father got his eyes widened, "Uh… do you feel sick, Rika-chan?"

"Huh? No, I'm fine." She replied cheerfully,

Which only made the father looked horrified. "What happened to my Rika?"

"Oh, you're exaggerating, father. I'm me. Well, I'm going to my room. Do you need anything?"

"Yes… I need to talk to you." Her cheerful face faded as the father stared at her with thoughtful eyes.

The living room had never been this tense before. She was uneasily sat across her father, waiting for him to talk. Honestly, she almost never saw her father could be this serious and looked struggled to find the right start. He just intensely stared… or she should say, glared at her.

"…Father?" She finally gained her guts to begin the conversation.

"It's about Leila-chan… she'd passed away."

Poop time! Who doesn't love this moment! The moment where stresses are being casted away while focus at letting out… something awful. When it comes out, it's like being in paradise on earth… …Narukami Yu bashed his head against the wall on his right side. What the hell, Yu? Talking about poop? Damn it, he really stressed at his current situation. That Izanagi was generous enough to let her alone during her time at the hospital. But… come on! He's a sick bastard who had murdered three people! There's no telling when she'll be transported into VW. If she does and he's still locked inside this damn cell… damn!

"Good evening."

Yu's gray eyes snapped open. He immediately glanced around his surroundings and found himself already in VW. "Damn it, Izanagi! At least let me finish my humanly business first." He retorted while still sitting on the toilet, right hands pressed the flush button while the other hand picking out some tissues. He's glad he's still at the same place when the VW occurred. If not… ugh.

"Well I'm sorry, Narukami. My bodyguards are hasty to meet you." A pair of gray eyes observed the transformation of three black-violet liquids. The three of them grew a red skinned human body with each faceless mask; VI, II, X. Their chests were holed and all of them had furs to cover their bodies… like a caveman. Black steel gauntlets were placed on their right hands and sharp-looking long swords gripped tightly on their left.

A deviant smirk spread across Yu's face. "How do you control those shadows?"

"It's classified."

"Figures. What do you want with me anyway? Interested in my past?"

"One of them, yes."

"It's a dull one, really."

"Defeating a god was a dull past?"

"…I was being sarcastic."

"I am aware…"

"This is pointless.

"Indeed."

"Oh, whatever. You're here to frame me anoth -" Yu ducked a violent horizontal slash that cracked the wall behind him. Shadow number X, the assailant, wasn't letting Yu breathe as it sent him flying through the wall with its punch.

"I told you, they're hasty."

Damn it…! That's hurt like hell! He felt one or two ribs of his were broken already. Pathetic! Is he really this defenseless? This vulnerable? Damn no! He was a leader of the Investigation Team. He was the one who possessed more than a hundred personas. He was the Wild Card…! Power… he just had to find a new power to rely on.

Resolved, Yu rose up from the rubble, ignored the shooting pain inside his body. As wild as a beast should be, Shadow X lunged at him. He jumped to the right and quickly hit the shadow in the mask with his bare, strong fist. The mask slightly cracked from the force, surprisingly… In retaliation, the shadow swung the long sword, which Yu managed to swiftly roll back to dodge. Unbalanced, Yu didn't notice a bolt of lightning was about to storm him from the ceiling. The lighting attack connected, but the gray-haired man stood still… his deadpanned face indicated the attack wasn't really do much damage, which only meant one thing; He re-gained his power.

"Tch…" Distracted by his own findings, the gray-haired man clumsily jumped backward as Shadow X tried to pierce his sword to his chest. He survived but, it then shot Yu a raw punch to his face in split-second, made him pushed back only a few centimeters, thanks to his quick reflex blocking it with his arms.

"What is it, Narukami? Why you didn't summon your persona?" Izanagi's voice echoed from around the room. "I'm sure my bodyguards are out of your league."

Yu kept his alerted gaze at the idle shadow in front of him while listening to Izanagi. "Fine then." He finally said, much to Izanagi's amusement. The gray-haired man readied his stance for summoning, stretching up one hand as if trying to grasp something. "Persona!"

…Nothing happened.

Shit… he thought he already regained his persona. What the hell really happened to him?!

"Ah… Aren't we two great manipulators? I hate to admit, Narukami, but my patience is at peak. Losing one Persona Users won't be a big deal anyway. Goodbye, Narukami."

Losing one Persona Users? Did he know there are more Persona users other than his friends and Rika?

Damn it, what's he planning? What's Persona User connection with the Suicide Syndrome? What's -

"Ugh!" Yu felt an incredible impact on his head and found himself sent flying by the shadows smashing attack. A violent jolt of pain followed up as he landed harshly on the ground. The gray-haired man gathered his remaining strength and forced himself to ignore the pain. He got distracted again… guess he really had to take down this Shadow X first, eh?

Shadow X began to charge at him again. With his mind focused, Yu managed to evade the shadow's sword attack by ducking downward. Still ducking, he land a quick yet sturdy thrust kick to the gut, which made the shadow lost balance. As Yu regained his stance, he combined his attack with a powerful jump kick to its thick neck. Shadow X fell harshly to the ground with a snap. Yu took the opportunity to snatch its sword, leap over the shadow and beheaded it with a single and powerful slash.

"'Don't think, feel'… huh?" He murmured while growing his wolfish smirk. That training back in Inaba really paid off. More importantly, he was able to defeat shadow despite being a normal. Well… he wouldn't say he's just a normal human after what just happened… Also, there's this disturbing energy inside of him was like crawling out. It's not a persona… it's something else…

"You defeated it without a persona…? Can't say I'm not amazed, Narukami. Well done."

"Look who's back?" Yu grew back his smirk as Izanagi re-appeared before him with his remaining two 'bodyguards'.

Izanagi only let out his deep tone laugh at that. "I won't just let a precious potential die. I only had to give you a little push."

"Well - ugh…!" The gray-haired man suddenly kneeled down and groaned lowly. He felt an incredible pain thrusting his eyes. Also, there's this dark energy that was about to burst out of his body. He struggled to regain his consciousness as the pain kept bombarding his eyes, but he failed.

The last thing he saw was a shocked face of Izanagi.

"The last time I saw her was in the hospital, when she visited Shibuya-chan. How about you, Kiku?"

Tsumura Kiku gave the raven-haired boy a thoughtful gaze. She and Gin had heard that Leila hadn't come home since last night, according to her parents report. And so, they commenced the search for Leila right away this evening… "I saw her yesterday at lunch. She didn't seem well that time."

The raven-haired boy nodded, "Gotta agree with you there. I had never seen her smile ever since Shibuya-chan went coma."

"That's irrelevant."

Kurosawa Gin shot the president a wry look. "Don't be heartless, Kiku. That's a sign she's vulnerable. I won't be surprised if she ended up killing herself in guilt."

The president rolled her ruby eyes, "What really is definition of heartless to you…?"

"I'm just saying!" He quickly exclaimed. "Oh well, let's put that aside. We got ourselves a problem to deal with."

"What do you mean?"

Gin pointed at something behind her. Without words she looked back and saw a gray-haired man walked casually across the hallway. Upper half of his face was a little shady to guess and he also wore a black robe that completely hid his body curve. But there's something from the man that made Kiku shuddered, the man's glowing golden-eyes.

"You're not one of teachers, are you?" Gin asked as the man walked closer to him. The man stopped and let out a smirk. "…I take it as a no."

"He's obviously not a teacher." Kiku stated while calmly took a few steps forward. "Who are you? Nobody could enter the school ground beyond the curfew without permission."

"That doesn't apply for you, kids?" The man deflected. His smirk grew wider as he spoke.

"We have the permission." Kiku retorted. It was a lie of course. Even she, as the student council president, couldn't get the permission from the faculty. They're very strict on their rules.

The man seemed to see the lie through, judging by how his smirk grew wider. "If you say so. Actually, I don't really care. Bye."

The pair silently watched the man walking past them. As he was out of sight, Kiku let out a relieved sigh. "Who is he?"

"…beats me. Anyway, we gotta continue. I bet, Shibuya-chan's father is out of excuses right now…"

"Right. If Shibuya knew Leila was missing. She would recklessly sweep the entire town just to find Leila."

"I might just know her for barely a week, but I dare to assume as much. Girls relationship is something…"

"Focus on the search, Gin."

Gin sighed as he realized that Kiku had ignored him and were walking further from him. "She never changed…"

* * *

Narukami Yu's note: I want to straighten a certain thing about my note before; I was under heavy pressure when I wrote… So I hope everyone understands the weirdness… And also, the author doesn't own Persona.  
Heh, you OWE me one, author!


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note/Ramble: It's been a while...** Thanks for everyone's support in every ways possible.** This story won't be dropped, I want to see myself finishing my first multi-chapter story too! Keep your faith up XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona

* * *

**VI Power Power Power VI**

"So, um… hey! Rika-cha - I mean, Shibuya-chan! What are you doing here um… at school… so late? D-Did you forget something?" Kurosawa Gin awkwardly asked as a certain auburn-haired girl suddenly appeared in front of him. He smiled wryly as she replied with a cold grunt and marched toward him with fury in her icy-blue eyes.

"Where is she?!" The auburn-haired girl asked, grabbing Gin's collar and forcing him to see her in the eyes.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" He asked back hastily which made the girl more furious.

"Leila! Where is she?! You are the last person she went with before she's missing!"

Gin forced himself widening his eyes and took a few second of pause before saying, "Leila-chan is missing? We better call-"

"Stop playing the idiot! You were the one who told my father to deceive me!"

With that, Gin sighed and pushing his head forward so he could kiss her. As expected from her, she let go of his collar and pushed him back. "Thank you!" He said sarcastically. "Man, your father's lying skill really is weak…"

"YOU BAS-"

"Hold it, girl. I'll tell you alright, so just chill." Gin said with his game face on. Shibuya Rika might only know him for barely a week, but she could tell the seriousness he had with that face. "The truth is, she isn't missing."

"So just-"

"I said chill, alright?" After waiting for her to calm down and nodded, gin continued. "Someone sent Kiku a letter. I don't know exactly what was written in there but she told me this; the anonymous sender is holding Leila somewhere and he wants you," Gin paused as he saw Tsumura Kiku exited from Faculty office with a disappointed look. "He wants you to come alone at the school rooftop."

Rika didn't waste any more time. As soon she heard where the man wants her to be, she dashed. The president shouted at her to stop at once and ran after her, but unfortunately for her, Rika was too fast to catch.

The auburn-haired girl once again witness the world was shifting around her along the way to the roof top. The blueness came back decorating every corner of the school. The ceiling was crumbling and some of the remains blocked her path. No, no, the right words is, the remains lead her to one path; the rooftop.

Just as Gin said, there's a man, a man from before, Izanagi. Rika could see him clearly now, his gray hair, cunning yellow eyes, and a wicked smirk. He's still wearing a suit like last time. Rika glanced at Izanagi's side to see her best friend lying unconscious. Rage in her heart made its peak. However, before she could even move an inch, Tsumura Kiku stopped her.

"Don't be reckless… please." Tsumura begged while doing her best holding the Kendo captain from charging. "I honestly have no idea what is going on and really confused, but I know one certain thing; Leila is my friend too and she's in a threatening situation. I don't want her to get hurt… so please…"

Rika was standing dumbstruck hearing the president begged for something. She's a selfish girl with a towering pride and, not even once Rika had ever seen her lowering herself for a friend. Leila must be more important to her than Rika ever thought.

"She's right, Shibuya-san. Calm down." Rika and Tsumura turned their attention to Izanagi who was now with a few black humanoid shadows on his tow. "Five minutes, I give you two minutes to defeat my friends over here. Then you can visit me in the principal room to get your friends. Good luck!"

As Izanagi disappeared into the crowd of shadows, Rika broke Tsumura's pin and charged toward the army of shadows. Tsumura watched in awe and disbelief as Fenrir, Rika's persona, emerged and launched torrents of ice at the enemies. She lost her balance and kneeled down.

Tsumura always thought of this as a nightmare that she would awaken somewhere around the school. But no, it's not. She felt the fear overwhelm her mind knowing that. Fear of losing her friends. Fear of her uselessness. Fear of the guilt that would come… No, this wouldn't do. She's not this weak. She had worked hard to be recognized as president and she wouldn't want to abandon her duty. She is responsible for the students and she have to protect them. She must protect them.

_I am thou…_

"What is…?" There's a warm light emitted from her heart.

_Thou art I…_

Energies were flowing through her veins.

_I have heard your resolve…_

A blue card appeared in front of her face, spinning around with sparkles.

_Call me…_

"Perso… na!"

A light grew radiantly from behind her, covering the born of a seducing, fiery-scaled woman with a pair of sharp claws and four fangs to match. The red spiky hair of hers was blowing upward like, emitting red light like that of a fire. The scaled tail was like a harpoon, flexibly moving around in hastiness. She is...

"I'm counting on you, Garm!"

With a speed of light, Garm charged ahead and slashed every shadow on her way. Rika let out a smile as she saw Kiku was manage to get a grip and even unleashed her power. That president also didn't stood idly and let her persona does the dirty job, she fought. Rika had seen the president in combat, she's good with staff. But when Rika saw her fighting up close, it's like watching kung-fu heroes in a movie. Tsumura Kiku flawlessly assaulted the shadows that surround her while her persona snatched every shadows live who were trying to attack her back.

The shadow army was swept clean a minute later.

While still trying to catch her breath, Shibuya Rika walked toward the panting president. Both of them shared an understanding glare before Rika offered a handshake which the president gladly accepted. "Sorry to drag you into this mess."

"No apologies necessary. I found what I looking for." Kiku flipped her three-section staff and put it on her stash under her jacket.

Rika was a little surprised to see Tsumura Kiku so well prepared, as if… "You already know this kinda thing would happen, didn't you?"

"I did expecting some brawls… but not like this. Still, you are going to have a lot of things to explain, Shibuya."

A wide smile spread across Rika's face, "I guess. But we must save Leila's first."

"Agreed."

With that, the two maidens took of to the search of Leila. "By the way, where's that weirdo guy?"

"Gin?"

Power… yes that was it. The voice that was bugging in his head. It was "Power." Well, he found that out, but what's the point really. He didn't even know where he is at the moment. Everything is pitch-black and he's just standing in the middle of it.

_"Da…ness…"_

Now there's another uncompleted word he heard. What's this, a hangman game?

_"Da…ness…"_

…Darkness. There! He answered it again. What next? Oh he can't wait!

Several minutes passed, he heard nothing more.

Another several minutes, he still heard nothing.

Still nothing.

Nothing…

Footsteps.

Footsteps.

Footsteps.

Footsteps.

And nothing.

The silent made him uneasy. He glanced around, trying to find the owner of the footsteps. Unfortunately, he kept finding pitch black on every corner his gray eyes look. He sighed in annoyance. How much longer he will stay in this place? He had experienced some similar… incidents like this one; trapped in the middle of nowhere. But it's only a matter of time before someone appeared and hinted him the way out. This one… is such a drag.

…

Oh, wait. Just maybe… maybe… he died…

…but the footsteps…

"…Sensei?"

Oliver Ace put up a wry grin. That Kirijo was right, there really is shadows activities in this blasted city. He had been working with her for two years and he still amazed of how her Intel works.

"Hey Oliver-san, look! People are immobilized." Seto Ryuuma, Oliver's newly assigned young assistant, mentioned.

Oliver took a quick glance around before checking his wristwatch. "Time has stopped too." He added.

"Kirijo-sama didn't mention about any of that."

"I suppose she doesn't know everything." Oliver set out a custom-made handgun from its hostler and spitted away his smoke. "Ready yourself, Seto. Things gonna get ugly from here… oh and stop using honorific when you speak English. It's hard for me to… understand it."

"Sorry, Oliver-san. This is my first time working on the field. I get nervous sometimes."

Oliver sighed heavily, "Don't you speak Japanese either…"

The two Kirijo agents were exploring the Velvet World that only occurred around Suzuka High School building. Oliver Ace was six feet four and inches tall and have a pair of long legs, it was easy for him to sweep the building from corridor to corridor. Seto was way shorter than his superior, so it took a lot of effort for him to keep up. Their investigation was halted as some shadows suddenly made an appearance.

"Heh, about time…" Oliver raised his gun, but instead of pointing at the humanoid black shadows, he pointed it at his own head. "Persona!" He pulled the trigger and a sound of shattered glasses echoed. Beside him, a crimson-armored knight appeared above his black saddle. The knight raised his spear and a fireball appeared violently killed the shadow in one hit. "Nice, Eligor."

"Oliver-san! Are- you- okay!?" Seto who rashly dashed to Oliver side asked while still trying to catch his breath.

"I don't understand what you're talking about, Seto! Speak English!" Oliver yelled which somewhat relieved Seto.

The young assistant let out a nervous laugh while scratching the back of his head. "I'm glad you're okay."

"You need to think over if you think I could be harmed by a mere shadow." Oliver replied. "That aside… Seto, where's your envoker?" Seto was bewildered for a moment before he picked out the custom-made gun or envoker. His broad nervous smile was rewarded by a smack on the head from his superior. "You're too green to be on the field."

"Th-that won't happen again, sir!"

"Good. Now I will give you a brief review of our situation, listen carefully." Oliver holstered back his envoker and grab out a piece of his own drawing of Shikage City map. "This place is supposed to be a three stories school building. However, we're ridiculously on the fourth level, so that building map you are carrying is no use. Added by how this building is badly damaged, I could assume the structure had changed completely. Now that you know, we're going to scatter around separately."

"Um, one question, sir… what are we looking for?"

"A catalyst or some sort. This phenomenon wouldn't be triggered by itself. Now let's go! We'll rendezvous in two hour at the lobby." With that, Oliver dashed off to the upper level.

His assumption was proven right as he reach the upper level. A large pond filled with unwary shadows was seen. Noticing those shadows was still unaware of his presence, the agent hid himself behind the damaged pillar.

Charging ahead would be a pain, but the shadows shown no intention to walk away either. He needed to make a distraction. The agent picked up a stone from the pillar's rubble and threw it across the pond. The shadows bought it, turning their attention to the sound the rock made. Just as he about to take the chance, a roar of bestial shadows was heard from behind.

Having born with a quick reflex, Oliver used the envoker, summoning Eligor to block the attacks. Obviously, those shadows in the pond noticed his presence and started charging at him. With Eligor keeping the shadows from getting near him, Oliver picked out his pistols from the hostler behind his jacket and killing the shadows from range.

Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough to keep Eligor summoned in a long rally. As soon as the crimson knight gone, Oliver slide out a knife he hid on his socks and began to slice everything that came near. "Trash can't hurt me!" He yelled as he ran out of bullets and began slashing like mad. Many magical attacks hit him in the process, but his towering pride would never let him to succumb to defeat.

Suddenly, a large explosion occurred in the pond and a silhouette of a man appeared behind the smoke. Both Oliver and shadows were turning their attention to the man. As the smoke subsided, a gray haired man appeared with his yellowish-eyes glowing. His ordinary white shirt was torn apart from his body. On his right hand a crimson bladed Katana was held. That smirk from his face was wicked. From Oliver's point of view, he's like a shadow with human form.

"I'm in a deep shit…"

Meanwhile on the lobby of the building, a raven-haired guy hurriedly running to the entrance while carrying a blond girl on his back, on his tail were a bunch of bestial shadows that was trying to devour him. Seto Ryuuma who was decided to 'guard' the lobby instead of scattering around saw them. A sudden nervous struck his system. He was like freezing, unable to even lift his envoker. But then, that guy's shout somehow broke the nervous spell.

"Get the hell out of there maaan! Those dogs ain't normaaal!"

That guy wasn't asking for help and yelled at him to escape instead. He can't lose to that guy. He can do it. He could fight! With his psyche 'upgraded', he gathered all of his courage to put the envoker to his forehead.

"Wh-Nooo, run! Don't kill yourse-" The black eyes of the raven haired guy gone wide. In his eyes, he witnessed a born of a very small humanoid figure covered with black fur flying round Seto with its beautifully wide wings. The figure bore three bird legs as a trophy it hung around the neck. As the sharp red eyes of its glow, a tornado emerged and swept away an entire shadow horde behind the raven haired guy.

"H-Hey, o-over here!" Seto ordered as he saw that guy stood still, jaw dropped. "Hurry!"

"I-that was-what the hell man!?" He stammered while putting down the unconscious blonde girl.

"D-Don't panic. I-I will explain later. N-now, l-let's get this girl to safety."

"Yeah… you're right. Give me a hand."

At the same time that happened, Rika and Kiku had reached the principal office. Oddly, nothing had changed as they barged in, unlike the rest of the building. Even both girls had a hard time locating this room.

"Ah, this is unfortunate…" Izanagi said while making his appearance from behind the principal's seat. "I was gone for a mere minute…"

"Where's Leila?!" Rika immediately stormed while the president whispered to her; saying she will do a little scouting around for an escape.

"I was away… to take care of… my friend. But I failed and made him… angry. You heard the explosion didn't you?" Rika didn't answer, though she did hear it. She could only pray nothing's happen to Leila or that weirdo. "My friend got violent and it will be a pain if I personally calm him down, so… I let him having fun."

"I don't care about your friend, where is Leila?!" Rika repeated.

"I don't know… and I'm out of time. We'll meet again soon." With that, he disappeared into the void.

"Shibuya, the world has returns to normal!" The president yelled while running to the office. "Shibu…ya…" As she witnessed Shibuya Rika lay unconscious, the president herself kneeled down before fell to the floor.

Outside the school building, Seto Ryuuma spontaneously dashed off to help his superior, Oliver Ace. He exited from the building, bathed with blood and dragging a severely damaged silver haired man along with him. Seto assisted his superior without any question to the jeep.

"Who's that…?" Asked his superior as he saw a blonde girl was lying unconscious on the back seat.

"She seems to be the victim, sir. Her friend who brought her here is looking for the other two inside the building."

"Victim… huh? Seto, I'm… counting on you."

"Sir…? Sir!"

Shikage Municipal Hospital hasn't had many patients ever since it's being rebuilt a year ago. The Mayor decided to build another hospital since the most deadly riot happened. The riot was causing many casualties and many collateral damages. The motive behind the riot was revealed; to overthrow the Mayor. However, the mobs had failed to do so. They claimed there's going to be 'another' in the media which made the city succumbed in terror…

"It's been a year… people tend to forget fast nowadays."

Seto Ryuuma nodded thoughtfully as the middle aged man finished his story about the riot. "I don't know this city is that dangerous… thank you fro your information, Shibuya-san."

"Haha, it was a pleasure. It helps me kill some time anyway." Shibuya said cheerfully.

"I'll be going now. My superior is being released from the hospital today… I hope your daughter get well soon."

"Thanks, Seto-san. That means a lot."

Seto bowed to the elder man and made his way. As soon as he went, Kurosawa Gin walked in casually into the waiting room. "Officer Shibuya, correct?" He asked the elder Shibuya as he's in sight.

"Yes?"

"I'm Kurosawa. My brother, Officer Kurosawa Heike asking for your presence. Seems another suicide happened."

"Oh, I suppose this is urgent. Thank you, young man."

"No sweat!" Gin watched the elder Shibuya away before he went in the patient room. "Kiku! I hear you're awake!"

"Be quiet."

"Um… sorry." Gin continued his way to the bed side. He stood for a while and then glanced back at another patient, "Shibuya-chan seems okay. Has she waken up yet?"

"No… neither has Leila."

"That's… sad. How about you?"

"I…" she paused for a moment, "Do you have any idea of what happened, Gin?"

"Yeah, that Oliver guy explained to me."

"Oliver?"

"Uh-huh, a foreigner, he told me everything… even the unrelated one…"

"Hey, promise me you won't tell a soul about it."

For the first time in seven years, Tsumura Kiku asked him to keep a promise again. "That's rare…"

"Gin!"

"Okay! Not that they're gonna believe it anyway." Just before he's going to say more, rhe door was opened and a gray-haired man appeared. Tsumura Kiku got her eyes widened. "Narukami?"

"Kurosawa…-san, I hear Tsumura-san has gained her consciousness… and that seems true."

"You're…that man!" retorted Kiku who turned pale as if seeing a ghost.

"I see you have seen Izanagi. He does, resemble me but don't you think I'm shorter? Besides I have gray irises." Narukami Yu defended plainly.

"Yeah, he's Narukami Yu. That guy was involved too and was unconscious like you guys back then." Added Gin.

"Tsumura-san, I'm not here to harm you if that's what you're thinking. I come here asking for a favor. Since you're already aware of the VW-"

"VW?" Gin cut in, much to Yu's displease. "I thought it's called Dark Hour?"

"Let's not arguing over trivial things… Tsumura-san I'm asking you to help Rika in whatever she's involved with."

Tsumura stayed silent and kept her fiery glare at the gray haired man.

"Err… I think she's still in shock of your resemblance to… 'that man', so I'll talk it down to her, no worries." Gin said.

Yu nodded in understanding before hurriedly leaving the room. He had someone to pick at the train station, someone that saved his soul from corrupting. Yu decided that he needs this kind of guy to help him go through this year alive.

He laughed at himself at how they met for the first time since last year. That was very… weird…

_"Sensei?"_

_Narukami Yu got his eyes widened in the face of red-blue bear-suited guy. Seriously, what the hell is going on?! "… Teddie, it's you right?"_

_"Yeah… Sensei what hap-"_

_"How did you find me?" _

_"Well, I saw someone_ _standing alone under the tree. I thought it was Yosuke so I decided to play words game he taught me the other day." Oh… that explains the hangman game… "But, Yosuke's voice sounds different and I came to check him out. And then, pow! It's you Sensei!" The happy expression of the bear suit turned gloomy immediately. "Then everything is black… what's happening here Sensei? Does someone trying to ruin the TV world again?"_

_"I have no-"_

_**"I will explain human."**__ Both Yu and Teddie were making a sudden glance around the black pitched world. The beast like voices continued__**, "I am Mammon, The One who answered your intense desire for power. However my service isn't for free, human. I will devour your soul little by little until your body become a soulless vessel. Then it will be mine."**_

_"S-sensei?" Teddie voiced his concern as Yu,who Teddie thought will be depressed by that speech, let out his wolfish grin. _

_"Teddie, I think I get it. You said, we're inside the TV Worl,d right?" Teddie nodded, "In other words, Shadow Land or… Demon World." Saying things like 'Demon world' was a blunt assumption, but he went with it anyway. "Then I think that Mammon threw here and taking control of my body in the real world…"_

_**"That's right, human! I'm in control of your body. And I met this prideful soul who I'm fighting at the moment. He might be a good vessel for 'him'."**_

_"Say, Mammon… what happens to my body if I die here?" _

_**"That makes me easier to control your body."**_

_"So you're saying it's a little hard for you to control me while I'm alive?"_

_**"…you have silver tongue, human."**_

_"Why don't we make a deal, Mammon? You lend me your full power in only one year, and then you can take my soul away."_

_"What? Sensei? What are y-" Yu's determined glare stopped Teddie from questioning. _

_"What do you say?"_

_**"…Agreed."**_

_"Deal then." Yu turned his attention to the worried bear."Teddie, don't' worry, I have a plan. Something catastrophe is going to happen this year. I think this catastrophic thing is bigger than I imagined, I can't count it on her alone."_

_"Her?"_

_"Teddie, I'm gonna get out of here and your world would soon return to normal. If you want to help, don't tell anybody about this and come to my place. I will sent you a message in about two days." Yu figured that he would need time to get his conscious back. "Okay, Ted?"_

_"Okay… be careful Sensei… see you later. Oh, sensei, can I bring my suit?"_

_"No, Ted… I'm sorry. I need you in a human form."_

_"Aww… I hope I didn't ask..."_

_**"You done, human? I'm bored here. This prideful human over here is dying already."**_

_"Yeah… I'm done."_

* * *

Author's note/ramble again : I mentioned about Yu's assistant in the last chapter. He's Teddie! It was originally Aigis role as many of you guys suggested, but it's a little hard to connect her with my story theme. She'll make an appearance later though... I think...  
Oh, I added two more OCs. They're the last major OCs in this story, FYI. I'll make a list of them in my profile later...


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note/Ramble: As I always say in the beginning; **Thanks for everyone's support in every ways possible. **This is the seventh chapter, please enjoy. Feel free to write your mind about this story. And I apologize for the long update.

* * *

**VII We All Love Crossroad VII**

Oliver Ace intensely watched the young auburn-haired girl sleeping gracefully. That Narukami had told him her identity; Wild Card… Truthfully he didn't know what that means, until he contacted his superior. Ace was surprised at his superior's order to meet her personally and then discussed this Wild Card matter. His superior didn't say much about it thought, she only said; "I have a new order: You are to assist Shibuya Rika in any way you can and protect her from whatever is after her. Simply put, keep her alive." and then she left. Ace couldn't help but wonder, "What's so special about Wild Card? And… why that Kirijo wants him to protect her so badly?"

Putting his thoughts aside, Ace walked toward the bed as the young Wild Card was showing some signs of consciousness. He thoughtlessly watched her immediately reached for her head and cried in pain. It took her a while to notice his presence, "Who… are you?" she's struggling to speak, "Where is… Leila?"

Ace didn't answer. He simply made his way out of the room; he forgot she's speaking Japanese. But at least, he heard she said a name; Leila. Outside he could still found her friend tirelessly waiting_. "Which one is Leila…?"_ he ashamedly asked all the time he spent waiting in this hospital with them… he only remembered that noisy black-haired kid…. Who was his name again?

"Oliver-san. How's Rika-chan?"

_"What? What did he say?"_ His eyes were searching for Seto, his assistant as well as translator, as he asked himself. Unfortunately, Seto's nowhere to be found.

"Oliver-san?"

Feeling ashamed he told the kid to go inside using body language for whatever his question was.

"Oh, she's awake! Hey guys- ah, they're gone already." The black-haired kid smiled to himself and followed the others who went ahead by the time he mentioned Rika's awakening.

Ace lift up his palm swept down his face in embarrassment while following those kids. His dark-brown eyes were soothingly closed as he saw the blond girl hugged the wild card in happiness. _"That must be Leila." _ She recovered fast. Two days, that's all she needed, while its five days for the brown-haired girl- _"Dammit, who was her name?!"_ a week for himself, and the longest, two weeks for Shibuya.

Well, seeing them happily rejoice like that, Ace decided to put the serious things aside and got back to the hotel. He's a little tired… somewhat.

Shibuya Rika once again woke up from her slumber and glanced at a little clock on the table. It's afternoon already. Her father visited this morning, told her that Yu had moved out from Shibuya household. It's somewhat a shock for her. N-Not that she will miss him or anything; it's just that, she had no idea what to do.

"Good afternoon."

"Oh, it's you. Good afternoon." Rika did a quick reply as the president; Tsumura Kiku, suddenly came in.

"Leila said she couldn't make it in time, here I brought you some bananas. I heard it is good for recovering energy."

"Um… thank you. That's… really considered of you."

"You don't sound pleased."

"Well, it's just… I hate bananas…so,"

"Oh, is that so. Then I'll-"

"No, no, no, it's okay. I'll just give these to…,"Rika paused. "My dad." She added a weak laugh. The name Yu was already at the edge of her voice but, she quickly switched him with her dad. That guy wasn't here anymore… Maybe for a long time. "Argh! Enough about him!"

Kiku raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

"Huh?" Rika quickly hid herself under the sheet, can't bear the embarrassment for saying her thoughts out loud. "N-Nothing! W-Would you leave me alone? I-I um, need some rest." She said, spluttered.

A soft chuckle escaped Kiku's mouth. "I simply cannot. Leila is going to come any minute and besides," her lips are forming a smirk. "Doctor said you're fully healed. Don't making excuses for your own mistake."

"Whatever." Rika pouted. That attitude only made her irritated as Kiku burst into small laugh.

Meanwhile at the corridor in front of Rika's room, Gin, who was banned from entering by Kiku, was standing intensively against the wall. The frustrated feeling was written all over his face. However, his narrow eyelids got wide as he saw two most beautiful thing he loved most juggling up and do-"Ahem!" He forced himself coughing to stop his own fantasies. Can't denied it, Leila's size was a little bit exaggerated for a high school kid. "Hi, Leila-chan!"

"Oh, hello Kurosawa-san! Good afternoon." She bowed politely, much to Gin's amusement. "Why are you out here? Aren't the pre-I mean, Kiku-chan already inside." wait

Gin smiled. It seemed the girls are getting closer after that incident. "Don't worry about me. Go, they're waiting."

"Okay. See ya around!"

As the wooden door closed behind him, a grim look spread across Gin's face. "I wonder how long this moment could last…"

The weather was wonderful at the west side of the city. The sky was blue and sun was hiding behind the sea of clouds while afternoon breeze calmly soothe everything past it. Narukami Yu sat idly at the bench, eyes dead, losing his mind deep in thought. He was still wondering what is 'Mammon?' Why would he lend his power to him of all people? It's not because his desperate need of power he's sure. There are others who desire power more than anything in this world, and why now? Oh wait, that question was actually obvious. _Because this is a catastrophic year_, as that long nose mentioned.

"What are you thinking about, Sensei?" The curious blue eyes of Teddie's were looking straight to Yu's deadpanned face.

Yu turned his attention to his bear-friend while letting himself relax in the furry sofa. "About that… demon I made a contract with…" As he about to explain further, his gut feeling told him to stop, and so he did. "Don't worry about it. How's everyone in Inaba?"

Smiling broadly at first, Teddie gladly answered the long awaited question. "Yosuke's doing well. He went into collage while still helping out his parents at Junes. Chie-chan's-"

The gray-haired contractor couldn't help but smile as he heard his friends are doing well in Inaba but, the smile faded as Teddie paused and looked as if he's about to cry. "What's wrong?"

"...It's Kanji."

"Kanji? What about him?"

"His mom died."

Yu was managed to keep his poker-face but inside, he felt a crushing blow to his chest. He somewhat cloaked with guilt for not knowing anything about his friends life. He could've called, catching up with each other in his free time but, what did he do? It pains him to admit this; he's obsessed with these incidents in this city. Him, being Velvet room host, Izanagi, the suicides, everything…

"And then he went off, didn't tell us where, he just told us he need to be alone."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Yu finished. "Ted, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure!" Teddie switched back to his cheery self again. "How can I help?"

Yu handed him his note about this city strangeness and list of persona users. A photo of Shibuya Rika was hesitantly being placed on the coffee table. "She's like me, keeping a distance with the others. She's also as stubborn as a rock." He added a chuckle before continued, "Follow her will you? To the end of her Journey. I'm sure you'll meet new friends along the way too."

"What about you, Sensei? What are you gonna do?"

A wry smile.

"Sensei?"

"I'm going to settle 'things' with someone."

"I'll go with you."

The gray-haired contactor stood up, patting Teddie's head in the process. "We all have our roles to play." He said darkly and begun to walk away.

Teddie didn't follow him. He's glad for that. What he's about to do might actually kill himself… Izanagi was his target. That man seemed to know the most of what's going on in this blasted city. Yu knew it wouldn't be an easy conversation. There's gonna be blood bath. For whatever happens, he wanted to know the truth… and fix it.

Before Yu realized it, he already arrived at the designated building; Goldfins HQ. The gray haired contractor was pretty sure this building is where Izanagi hid himself among humans, if he really is inhuman.

Yu calmly strolled to the receptionist table and said, "Narukami Yu, I have an appointment with the President."

It got the female receptionist smiled wickedly and making the contact. Within several seconds, the receptionist stood up and offered Yu an escort. It worked. Then there's no doubt that Izanagi was here, otherwise the 'real' president would refuse an unplanned meeting with a mere employee. Yeah, Yu hasn't quit his job yet.

Yu shook his head while smirking. He politely refused the offer and made his way to the elevator. His smirk grew wider as there's one particular button that ominously glows. As he went out from the elevator he was greeted with the usual humanoid reptile looking shadows.

They came attacking him right away. Thanks to the demonic power he possessed, he managed to cut off those shadows with ease, calmly making his way to the end of the corridor. As he finally arrived, he calmly opened the velvet door. Waiting inside, Izanagi gave Yu applause and gestured him to sit across him. Yu accepted the gesture, playing along with the game.

"You knew I'm coming, didn't you?" Yu began.

"Yes, I did. And I also knew you're here not for wanting to get rid of me… but for answers." Izanagi grew a smile as he watched Yu intensely glared at him. "Ah, your silence says it all. Very well, since you have become like me, I will gladly answer everything."

"'Become like me'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, that's a start. As you know it yourself, you are no longer an ordinary human; you could summon those deadly claws you use to rip off my shadows. Five of your senses are raised tenfold or so, and you felt invincible. My point is you made a Contract with a demon; a powerful demon."

Yu raised an eyebrow, "So you're…"

"Yes. I made a contract with a certain demon. You see, I was once-"

"Human." Yu cut in, only to receive a playful laugh of Izanagi.

"I wish. I was one of the beings who resides Velvet Room. You are acquaintance with Igor, am I right? I was once served under him as a guide to a wild card. I already abandoned my name, but since you are so bravely barged in here, I will tell you. I was called Theodore or Theo for short."

The infamous poker-face of Narukami Yu almost got shattered at that moment.

"Hahaha! That seems too much for you, huh? Well, enough about me. It's my turn to ask you, Narukami. Why did you desire power so much that you fell to the demons?"

Yu clenched his fist. The idea of him so desperate for power really irritates him. "I just want all of this to end fast." He said after carefully choosing which words to use.

Theodore or Izanagi rubbed is chin and leaned forward, "That is interesting. I thought your answer would be like 'I want to protect everyone I hold dear' or something similar."

Yu smiled wryly, "I'm a terrible friend."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Narukami. Well, then is there anything else?"

"Yeah, what's your goal, exactly? I want details."

"Oh, I think you'll catch a glimpse of my goal soon enough."

Yu got his eyes widened at what happened before him. The blue curtain that covered huge window behind Izanagi slid open, revealing the world around transformed into the likes of VW. Barren ground and every building looked like it was being nuked ten year ago; an apocalypse land of despair.

A half hour earlier, Oliver Ace pulled over his car to the commotion at the sidewalk. He was once worked as a cop before got recruited in Shadow Operative, things like that tends to get his attention. It was a nice decision to pull over. The commotion was caused by one bleach-haired kid. From the look of it, it seemed the kid was beating six other dudes into a pulp. The kid sent a resentful look at everyone who made an eye contact with him. With that attitude the bystander began to walk away one by one until the cops came.

"Hey!" Ace called, getting the cops attention, plus the gruffly looking kid. "Seto, help the kid."

"R-Right away, sir!"

Ace sipped his ice coffee as he watched Seto running toward the cops. The rookie showed the cops fake ID, Kirijo gave him those to 'ease up' the operation, under five minutes of negotiation the cops handing over the kid to Seto, much to Ace's amusement. The kid looked confused and seemed to ask Seto a bunch of question but, Seto himself didn't know anything. Ace got off from his car and waited for those two.

"Uh, thanks for saving my ass, dude." Said the gruffly kid, although Ace didn't understand what he's saying, he knew the kid was thanking him.

"Do you want to work kid? I could use someone like you." offered Ace. The kid raised an eyebrow and let out a loud 'huh?' as if he's deaf. Seto quickly translated.

"Um, sure. But I ain't a killer dude. I'm cool with beating up some douche though, I really need some punching bags."

"Okay its, only your intimidating need I look."

Both Seto and the kid snorted. "Dude, your Japanese sucks."

Ace pinched his nose-bridge, trying to bear the critics. He's trying at least.

"By the way, I'm in. The name is Tats-just call me Kanji."

"Let's go." Ace got inside the car, gesturing Kanji and Seto to do so.

"Oh, I understand that one. Let's go then. Oh yeah almost forgot, who the hell are you guys?! You're not another form of cop, right?"

"I will explain," Seto took the initiative.

Ace glad Seto took the initiative to explain, he didn't want to embarrass himself any further. One thing he noted, LEARN JAPANESE. It pains him to lower his pride and learn another language. But if this is what it takes to end this case, he will do anything.

"So, you want me to be the watchdog? Hell no! Let me punch someone!" Kanji protested. Ace was assigning him to watch the area around the school backyard, which is too soft for Kanji.

"Oliver-san said you are and I'm here too. You'll get to punch someone if something happens." Seto retorted.

"Tch, fine! What's boss doing inside anyway, sneaking into a high school."

"Think of it as…" Seto's jaw dropped. It came really fast, sweeping anything in its way.

"What the-" and Kanji felt a blackout.

Shibuya Rika woke up from her slumber. Her head felt heavy and she barely saw anything. After several seconds adjusting, she finally could see clearly. She saw the hospital room was heavily damaged. The dark-gray clouds were seen accompanied by a gigantic greenish moon coloring the sky.

"Is everyone alright?" Rika shouted, but getting no response whatsoever. Ignoring the dizziness in her head, she tried to stand up. She glanced around her surroundings and only found that she's alone in this room. Maybe the transformation separated her and everyone, but how?

Rika sighed. Nobody could answer that. Decided to get over with the thoughts, she moved forward, trying to get out into the open first. A sharp gasp escaped her lips and she's stumbled backward as she saw a big, stuffed-bear-like, waiting in the corridor. It smiled and waved its paw at her.

"Hello Rika-chan! I'm Teddie, nice to meet you!"

"I-It talked!" Rika snapped. She got this mixed urge between wanting to hug the cute stuffed animal or beat the hell out of it, assuming that cute this is a shadow.

"Don't worry Rika-chan. Sensei sent me here to protect you. I'm still wondering from what though, hehehe."

While trying to recollect her calm, Rika stood up. "How do you know my name?"

"Sensei told me. This is you right?" The stuffed animal handed her a photo.

It's a photo of her, Yu, and her father. This photo was taken right after Yu moved in to the family. The father insisted to have a photo group. Rika had a wild guess about this 'Sensei' the bear kept telling her about. "Who's 'Sensei'?" But she asked him anyway.

"Sensei, he's the one in the photo, the gentleman with gray hair."

As she thought, it is him, Yu. What's he planning? Did he know this was coming? _"Oh stop it Rika!"_ she told herself and trying to focus on what's ahead. "So what do we do um, Teddie?" Teddie lost his smile and looked as confused as Rika. "You don't know?" The bear nodded and Rika sighed. "Okay then, let's find a way out first."

"Roger!"

The entire city of Shikage was turned into wasteland. People are gone and shadows exist in the open, feasting on each other to make them strong. Narukami Yu filled with rage. He wanted to punish Izanagi so badly for this but, he needed to stay cool. He still has hope-no; this city still has some hopes left; The Wild Card, Rika, and other Persona users. There's also Teddie… and him. "We're going to end this."

"Not so fast, Narukami, you know I've been keeping an eye on you ever since you arrived, don't' you?"

Yu glared at Izanagi from over his shoulder, "What's your point?"

"My point is, I drew you here, the tempting job, and the suicide case, remember? I set those up so you, who abandoned your believe in Personas and could only watched someone else struggling got desperate. I made your need of power. Just so you accept the demon's offer… So you could fight alongside me."

"Huh, what makes you so sure? I really want to rip you in half so badly right now."

"Because you want to know there's another Wild Card before you, your predecessor."

"I already know that."

"But you didn't know her story. How she sacrificed herself to save the world. Allow me to tell you this, and my goal, and then you can decide which side are you, how about that?"

The gray-haired contractor turn around and shot a glare at Izanagi, wondering if he could trust this sick bastard who erased every population in this city. Although Yu couldn't lie, he does curious about his predecessor. Why she must sacrificed her life to save the world and he didn't. Yu shut off his eyes for several seconds, making up his mind. "That's a tempting offer, but I have to-**I will listen."**

A wicked smirk.

* * *

Casters banter:

Izanagi: "Theodore, why are you keeping my name as yours? Your identity has been revealed."  
Theodore: "Because I like to play God."  
Izanagi: "I am God, but I played as Yu's hit-man..."  
(Deep Silence)  
Theodore: "...You have my condolences."


End file.
